Author: Brandia Deatherage | Published: February 17th, 2010

    Last night, while thousands lived out the Easy Rider fantasy on Bourbon Street in New Orleans, I was perfectly sober in the fluorescence of my small-town grocery, hunting for fresh-caught salmon.

    Like I promised in yesterday's blog, I was using Mardis Gras to prep for my date with righteousness, rather than to have one last Hoorah, and be hungover for it.

    (If you are truly ready to be married, Brandia, there will be no desire to have a bachelorette party.)

    So, I'm at Food Lion and all I can find is farm-raised salmon from Canada, as if I haven't ingested enough of the Great White North after watching the Vancouver Winter Olympics all week.

    Even though the salmon was raised on a farm, however, the pricing machine still felt it was worth $9.99/lb. Next time I cook seafood, I will stop by Washington Crab & Seafood Inc. on Pierce Street, and hope their prices are a little more affordable. I hate paying more than I should have to, but it's not worth the time to drive from store to store in search for the best deal.

    Plus, I had an extravagant, unprecedented dinner party to attend to, and only 30 minutes before my girls, Meghan and Emily, arrived. I didn't want to be unprepared and force my friends to stand idly by like Le May Doan during the Opening Ceremony, waiting for the burners to be lit before our culinary games could begin.

    The recipe I used for the salmon was an adapted version of Dave Lieberman's recipe 'Roasted Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes with Caramelized Lemon Slices' from his old show on The Food Network, Good Deal. To round out a very balanced meal, I made acorn squash and risotto. The finished product was delicious and healthy, and I went to bed feeling guiltless and ready to wake up at 7 a.m. for my early morning yoga class.

Roasted Salmon with Roasted Tomatoes with Caramelized Lemon Slices

Ingredients
12oz. organic sugar-plum tomatoes extra virgin olive oil 8 to 10 sprigs fresh thyme sea salt and freshly ground black pepper (7 to 8-ounce) salmon fillets, about 1 1/2 inches at their thickest point handful fresh dill sprigs 1 large lemon, cut in half

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Place plum tomatoes in a shallow baking dish, drizzle with olive oil and scatter thyme sprigs over all. Season with salt and pepper. Roast until tomatoes are softened but still have their shape, about 15 to 20 minutes. Cover loosely with foil and set aside.
Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F.
Lay the salmon fillets skin side down with some space between them on a baking sheet or baking dish. Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon and drizzle olive oil over fish. Season with salt and pepper and cover with dill. Bake until firm, 15 to 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, slice the remaining lemon half into 1/4-inch slices. Heat a skillet over high heat. Film the bottom of the pan with olive oil and add lemon slices. Saute until brown on both sides, about 5 to 7 minutes total. Remove from heat and set aside.
Remove the aluminum foil from the tomatoes and discard the herb sprigs.
Spoon tomatoes into the center of each plate. Lay a piece of salmon over the tomatoes and lay the lemon halves on top of the salmon. Serve immediately.

Sweet Acorn Squash

Ingredients
one large acorn sqash brown sugar 4 T. butter

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Wash the acorn squash, then quarter it, leaving the stem intact.
Use a spoon to scrape the seeds and strings from each quarter, making it look as smooth and appealing as possible.
Place 1T. of butter in the center of each of the quarters.
Sprinkle 1T. of brown sugar on each of the quarters.
Place all four quarters in a baking dish. Fill the dish with 1/4in. of water.
Bake in oven for 15 minutes, or until firm, but soft.
Remove from oven, and drizzle the edges of the squash with water and drippings from the bottom of the dish.
Serve immediately.

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