Wednesday, February 17, 2010

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.

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