Lightening Up

I'm one of those kooks who is still enjoying this cold and snowy Virginia winter. So I'm still making lots of soup and other winter foods ( I have a pot roast in the crock pot right now). But a couple of weeks ago my mother in law was visiting, so between meals of slow roasted short ribs and linguine bolonese,  I decided to lighten things up. As if it were spring I made a large salad and topped it with roasted salmon.  I made a soy glaze of 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1/4 cup maple syrup reduced on the stove top to 1/3 cup. Brushing this on the salmon before, during and after roasting the salmon (450º for 10min.) Then broiled it for 3-5 minutes.
It tasted so fresh and light.

I'm a big fan of Seafood @ West Main. That's were I get our fish for sushi too.
Speaking of sushi, we ate at Tokyo Rose the other night for the first time in 5 years or so and it was really really good. I will be back soon!
Back to the meal........

For dessert I did pears poached in red wine, topped with whipped cream. What a beautiful fall/winter dessert. So elegant but delicious and not so heavy.

We are so fortunate to live in a time (and country) where you can walk into your local market in February and have access to so many fresh fruits and vegetables. In support of our wonderful Buy Fresh/Buy Local campaign, I take a little longer to see where my produce is coming from. It's so easy in the summer to buy practically everything from local sources, but it becomes a challenge in the winter. I start by trying to buy, if not from VA, then maybe the east coast, then at least from the USA and when all else fails, I buy a papaya and thoroughly savor every bite. My friend Lorrie turned me on to how good and healthy they are with a squeeze of fresh lime juice.

 A great start to your day.