Definitely a keeper!

With all the time spent on the elliptical (yup, it's still my bitch), I've been finding time to read the magazines I am subscribed to. So I'm slowly catching up. Lately, I've been bringing at least one Real Simple to the gym with me and yesterday, before I donated it to the Y, I ripped out a page with a recipe on it. I really liked what was in the picture so I decided to try it out. 

I did that today. I took a break from the el...bitch tonight and went shopping for both groceries and gifts for my Sharing Tree people. Then I cooked. And I have to admit I did something pretty weird - I followed the recipe.

Ok, for the most part. I adjusted the quantities again, a little bit, but did not change any ingredients. Odd, yeah, I know. The recipe said it was going to be a twenty minute meal and it really was. Very easy to make.

Here are the ingredients:

fresh skinless salmon

fresh zucchini

fresh dill

shallot

rice vinegar

extra virgin olive oil

salt

black pepper
 

I had 380g (0.8lb) of fresh wild Atlantic salmon, which was a really good pick. No more frozen stuff for us, despite the price. (Okay, it is debatable how fresh the fresh one really was, but it looked good and was really delicious.) I used two medium sized zucchinis (400g, also known as 0.9lb). These need to be cut into thin sticks. I left the peel on, like I always do, even though this time I didn't have organic produce. Oops. Zucchini are thrown into a skillet with some hot olive oil in it and they need to be cooked until tender (add salt at some point, if you care for it). Toss them frequently, but make sure to get at least some of them slightly browned. Man, does that taste good. 

Salmon is thrown onto another pan with hot olive oil and cooked for a few minutes per side. Or however you like it. I used only one tablespoon of oil per skillet, if even that much. I rubbed the fish a little bit, prior to cooking, with a dash of salt and some freshly ground black pepper.

The remaining ingredients need to be mixed into something that looks like dressing. Chop the shallot (I used my tiny food processor/chopper thingie because I hate the smell of onions and garlic on my hands) and throw it into a bowl. Add some rice vinegar, probably about two tablespoons or maybe a little bit more. Chop the dill and throw it in as well. Pour in olive oil - 1 teaspoon in my case. Add salt and pepper. Still and leave it be while the rest is cooking (actually, this is the first thing I made). 

Once everything is done, serve right away. The dressing-like thing goes on top of both zucchini and salmon. And it's good. Really good. It doesn't even stink and/or taste like onions. I have to admit that the shallots made us cry, though. They were that potent. 

The final product was really, really delicious and there is none left. Okay, except for a bite or two of fish. 

Only 880 calories for the whole batch and it feeds two, with a tiny chunk set aside for tomorrow. Woohoo! We'll be eating this again. I'm keeping the recipe. Or, well, I don't need it anymore. This is more than just easy.