Salmon one of the healtiest foods......

The search for a new recipe to prepare Salmon this past week end led me to this one for Salmon Primavera. It was not only very yummy, but to pretty not to photograph....so I did. I would have to rate it right up there with my Baked Pesto Salmon, prepared simply by just applying a good layer of my home made Pesto on the Salmon and baking at 350 degrees for about 1/2 hour.
Salmon Primavera Servings: 6
3 lbs. Salmon Fillet
Salt
Black Pepper, freshly ground
Creamy horseradish sauce with dill (I did not have this so I used a horseradish sauce and added fresh dill)
1 zucchini with skin, thinly sliced
1 yellow squash with skin, thinly sliced
2 Roma or Plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/4 cup whole grain Matzo Meal ( you can use unflavored bread crumbs)
2 tbsp. chopped fresh dill
2 tbsp. olive oil

Preheat oven to 375 F

Season the salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Brush an even thick coating of the horseradish sauce with dill all over the salmon. Place the salmon in a non stick pan.

Starting at the left end of the fillet, lay a column of overlapping slices of the zucchini. On the next row lay a column of overlapping slices of squash, they should be overlapping the zucchini a bit as well. On the next row, lay a column of overlapping slices of tomatoes, they should slightly overlap on the squash. Begin again with the zucchini, followed by the squash and the tomato. Continue in this fashion until the whole fillet is covered.

In a small bowl, mix the matzo meal, dill and olive oil. Sprinkle over the top of the vegetables.

Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove one of the vegetables in the thickest part of the fillet and test to make sure the fish is done, and then cover it back up with the vegetables.

Serve hot or at room temperature. Can be refrigerated overnight and brought to room temperature the next day.

Did You know? Salmon is one of the healthiest foods.......There are so many wonderful things about salmon that it’s hard to know where to start. It’s a fish which even people who don’t like fish can enjoy. It’s firm enough to grill, can be cooked in many different ways, and doesn’t dry out as easily as many other fish. It comes fresh, frozen, smoked, and canned. Wild salmon can be eaten without fear of excess contaminants or mercury, and it has a very high nutrient profile, including the highly-prized omega-3 fatty acids. What’s not to like?

Delicious with exceptional nutritional value found in few other foods, Salmon are incredible fish traveling thousands of miles throughout their life cycle and within two to five years returning to the very location where they were born to spawn and die. The specific characteristics and life cycles of salmon vary with each species.

An exciting, fairly recent development is the realization that omega-3 fats have potential to help slow cognitive problems such as Alzheimer’s disease and age-related cognitive decline. Also, people who have sufficient levels of omega-3’s (especially as compared to omega-6 fats) seem to have less depression and suicide risk, as well as less aggression -- in one study, giving prison inmates this type of fat (plus vitamins) reduced aggressive behavior by a third in a mere two weeks. From the World’s Healthiest Foods: More information and research references about The Benefits of Salmon and Omega-3 Fatty Acids.

Being on one of my cooking episodes, I also prepared a recipe for Garden Eggplant Bake, pictured above. I am always on the search for a new way to prepare fresh veggies and utilize my home grown herbs at the same time. This one contains fresh basil and oregano.

Lastly I baked a banana-nut bread. It was my turn to bring a snack to my Master Gardener Class this week. I have been preparing this recipe for 30+ years now. The directions read to bake and let cool for 24 hours before slicing. My girls always accused me of making that up, just to torment them. Now that they have children of their own they can do the same with them. I never did find out why it needs to sit. I will guess, so that it solidifies and does not crumble when sliced. I do love the Internet for recipe searching, but I still collect and love all my cookbooks. When I open the slightly yellowing pages, with blotches of food stains on them, there is a feeling that comes over me that does not come from a recipe found online.

This Banana Nut Bread recipe comes from the Woman's Day Encyclopedia of Cookery, published in 1966. I purchased each volume....12 total in the grocery store one at a time. I cannot remember for sure if they came out monthly, which is what I suspect.

Cooking.....good for the mind, body and sole........Bon appetite!