Poached Salmon & Herb Salad

Salmon is good brain food for moms and babies. I made this for lunch this week.

Poached Salmon & Herb Salad for 2

12 ounces of fresh wild salmon
1 garlic clove
1 celery stalk
1/4 teaspoon of dried thyme or a few sprigs of fresh thyme
1 tablespoon of butter
1/4 cup of white wine

2 hand fulls of lettuce greens
1 small hand full of flat leaf parsley
2 tablespoons of 1 or 2 different fresh herbs (oregano, basil, dill, lemon thyme, cilantro, mint)
olive oil
salt and pepper
lemon

Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat. Add the salmon, skin side down. Smash the garlic clove and add to the pan along with the celery stalk (break in half to fit the pan) and thyme. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Add the white wine and cover. Allow to cook until the salmon is just well done enough to form flakes when pulled at with a fork. The thickest parts may still be a little darker pink than the flakiest part. Turn off the heat and leave covered to finish cooking gently.

Remove the parsley leaves from the stem. Prepare the herbs the same way. Toss with the lettuce. Prepare a simple dressing with a squeeze of fresh lemon, a tablespoon of olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. If you don't have fresh lemon, substitute a dash of vinegar.

Serve the salmon room temperature on the bed of dressed salad greens.

Thank You Readers

First of all, thank you to my faithful readers who keep checking in despite a lack of new postings on my part. I have been busy having a beautiful baby boy and it has been quite difficult to type more than one sentence e-mails, since I almost always am typing with one hand and holding baby with the other. I am shocked that he is sleeping in his crib long enough this morning for me to eat breakfast (although I was half dressed, and ate standing at the sink, with a baby wrapper falling off of my shoulder, it was almost like old times) and still have time to log on to this blog to bang out a quick note.

I have been enjoying my first strolls around the neighborhood with the baby, when weather allows. Fall has definitely arrived this last week and I am careful to bundle him up well. I have a special stroller blanket with matching two hats that were made by a very amazing, talented, and generous woman, SpinnDiva, who I don't actually know in person, but who made this wonderful gift for us anyway. She posted a close up of her beautiful workmanship on her blog here.

My goal is to begin posting weekly again, and I promise to try to limit myself to an occasional picture of the baby, and actually write about other things too, like recipes!