Yes, I am deathly afraid of consuming fresh fish. Maybe it is a lineage from Iowa (cows, pigs and chickens galore, although my grandparents also fish and eat trout). Maybe it is growing up and living in New Mexico (I can't see the ocean!). But my husband and daughter love salmon, I have twice over the past 15 years tried and enjoyed it, and I could not STAND another year being anxious about diving into a new but also healthy food habit.
So the stars aligned. I have had many conversations with friends over where they buy salmon in New Mexico and the consensus was "Costco." (I hear Internet giggles, but tell me if you know otherwise.) Low and behold, they have fresh BONELESS, SKINLESS salmon fillets. They looked fresh, pink, clean, and I could not smell a "fish" scent so I felt fairly safe. The recipe I have been holding onto for some time requested a 2 pound fillet; the price came to $13. Tip: One serving of meat is three ounces or the size of a deck of cards; this would make over 10 servings.
When I returned home with it, I shoved it in the freezer. I was not yet ready but I was getting closer. Not wanting to ruin it with freezer burn I pulled it out a week later and thawed it in the refrigerator. Still below 100% certain of my resolve, I invited my dear friend Tiffany and her new 4th baby and family to join us so I had more than my own family of four to cook for. I gave myself no backups, although I admit, I had enough side dishes in case it failed. Tip: I added 1/2 teaspoon seafood seasoning to 3 cups uncooked brown rice in the rice cooker. My house smelled amazing.
Brown Sugar Glazed Salmon was the recipe I chose to use from TasteofHome.com by Rachel Garcia. The prep time was 15 minutes, cook time 20-25 minutes. I used a glass 9x13x2" casserole dish lined with foil and cooked it for 27 minutes (still phobia-driven) but it came out DELICIOUS! My side dishes were the rice I mentioned above, 1 lb frozen green peas cooked in the microwave 7 minutes, a quart jar of pears I canned this summer, and some cottage cheese. The entire meal was less than $20 and again it fed four adults, five children, many of us had second-helpings and we still had about three leftover servings which regretfully did not make it past the next day... Yum.
HAPPINESS ABOUNDS! So please check out Rachel's recipe if you would like to share in my new salmon indulgence. If you have a favorite fish recipe, comment below.
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