In the Pink

Confession: I once lived in a pink room with a pink and orange shag carpet. True, I was a teenager at the time. And true, it was 19-never mind. Nonetheless, as one of our sages, Dave Barry, has said, "I am not proud of this."

But these days pink--and we're talking a beautiful, deep, rich pink; call it pale red or reddish-orange, if you wish--means just one thing: Salmon!

And there has been some beautiful wild salmon around lately--for $7.99-8.99 a pound. Here's what I've been doing with it:

"Grilled Salmon with Pistachios, Lemon, and Olive Oil"
(from Joyce Goldstein's Back to Square One; adapted to three servings from the original six).

1/4 cup shelled pistachios
1T fresh lemon juice
2-1/2T olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
Grated zest of 1/2 orange covered
with 2T orange juice (optional)
2 salmon fillets, about 6 oz. each
Olive oil for brushing the fish
Lemon wedges for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spread the pistachios on a baking sheet and toast until fragrant, 8-10 min. Let stand until cool enough to handle. Then rub off the skins in a discloth and chop the nuts medium fine in a food processor. Process in the lemon juice, oil, salt and pepper to taste, and orange juice and zest, if using. Set aside. If not using orange juice, you may need a little water to thin the mixture.

Heat the grill or broiler. Brush the salmon fillets with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill or broil until the fish is just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes each side. (Or bake the fish at 450 degrees for about 8 minutes.) Spoon the pistachio sauce over the fish and serve hot, with lemon wedges.

The book suggests serving this with rice pilaf and asparagus, broccoli, or spinach. I like it with haricots vert (aka French green beans).

Extra salmon? Try this:

"Slammin' Salmon Sammich":

Cold cooked salmon
Carrots, sliced on the diagonal
Mesclun lettuce
Purple onion, thinly sliced (optional**)
Homemade or good quality mayonnaise
Dijon mustard (This is especially good with basil or Creole mustard)

Pinch of freshly-ground mixed peppercorns*

Capers
Acme "Herb Slab" foccacia

Steam the carrots. Slice the foccacia into two pieces and cut each in half through the center. Toast or grill foccacia. Combine three parts mayonnaise with one part mustard, add a pinch of pepper, and spread on the bread. Place the lettuce and onion on the toasted foccacia. Flake the salmon and add to the sandwich, followed by the carrots. Top with capers. Slice in half and serve immediately.

*Yes, I have seen the light as to the merits of different kinds of peppercorns. I still say freshly-ground black pepper is hard to beat. And I still don't love white pepper. I do like the flavor of the mixed peppercorns. And so I will give white pepper another try, in the interest of science and a certain cauliflower recipe.

**Don't you love when recipes say "optional"? As though you have no choice about the other ingredients, but here, well, okay, you can leave out the onion. But as far as changing anything else, you go right ahead but then don't be surprised by that knock at the door.

Having said all that, what do you plan to do about the onion?

©2009-2014 Laynie Tzena.