Busy As A Brie

I am hooked on barley. It is such a versatile and satisfying, chewy little grain. This fresh salad sparked when I came upon these cute clementines that looked almost too perfect to eat. Clementines remind me of my childhood and the single orange ball I would find at the toe of my Christmas stocking every year. Once we pulled everything out, my brothers and I would sit and eat our clementines while admiring our loot. Something about them just makes me happy.

So for a lunch date with my friend Jamie, I marinated and grilled some beautiful salmon to go with this spring salad. It was a perfect lazy lunch on the porch accompanied by sunshine and Monty contentedly munching on his favorite stuffed beaver.

For the Recipes, click here:

Orange and Maple Glazed Salmon

Clementine, Barley, and Spinach Salad with Cinnamon Citrus Dressing

The Search for Fresh

Growing up in New England, we had seafood for dinner a couple times a week and I definitely took it for granted how amazingly easy it was to find fresh, just caught fishies. Then I moved to Chicago. I remember during one of my shifts at the local Irish Pub hearing someone exclaim, “Oh wow, this smells so fresh!” when I brought out a previously frozen piece of stinky specimen and thinking… this person is not aware that fresh fish doesn’t smell at all. Or at least, it doesn’t smell of fish. It smells salty if anything. And then I moved to Las Vegas. And I continue to miss the fresh Atlantic catch of the day.

So, every now and then, I pay a slightly inflated price for responsibly farmed fish at Whole Foods and remind myself that if I went to a restaurant, it would cost way more anyway. Plus, I love the fishmonger at Whole Foods. Always honest, and always friendly, he doesn’t get annoyed by my spattering of questions about delivery time, the origin, if it was previously frozen, colors added, etc… What can I say, I like to know whats going on with my food.

I hope this doesn’t make me sound like a snot. It just effects the taste so much that I think it’s worth the extra couple of dollars!