At A Loss

Summer officially began yesterday at 1:16pm.  To be honest I was at a bit of a loss for what to write about this week.  You see in one and a half weeks, I will be going to Hawaii for a friend’s wedding.  I cannot think of anything else.  I try, but I can’t.  I’m actually having nightmares about not being able to go, or accidentally cancelling my plane tickets. |

So finding a recipe that I want to share with you has not been at the top of my list.  Sorry.  I did my standard grocery shopping trip, looking in the garden and reading all things food related that I can get my hands on, but nothing inspired me.  I am stuck in a food rut.  But only in the sense that sometimes it’s nice to go back to things you have had before.  I mean I am trying some new dishes this week.  But I never feel comfortable sharing them unless I know that they turn out well, especially when they come from another source. 

Also in preparation for Hawaii I have been watching my wallet a little more closely.  I am trying not to buy fifteen different ingredients for one dish (it’s hard, but I am trying).  So Monday night when I came home from work, I asked Joe what he wanted to do with the salmon I bought.  It was nice out, so grilling it seemed to be an option, but we don’t have a grill basket, so the thought of charred on bits of fish stuck to the grill wasn’t appetizing to anyone.

We thought of foil packets, our trusty method for grilling anything that won’t ordinarily grill well.  We have been tossing stuff in foil packets for years now, and usually the results are always a hit. So we had foil packets, we had salmon and we had some “spicy greens” from our farm share to toss in.  Initially I was thinking of an Asian inspired flavor, but Joe isn’t as crazy for fish sauce on fish as I might be.   I let my mind work on it for an hour or two while I was at the gym (again Hawaii in a week and a half).  And you would be amazed at what watching the Food Network while sweating it out on a treadmill will do to your creative juices. 

We decided to try something, and I am going to share it with you even though we have only ever made it once.  But it was so simple, and used ingredients you might already have on hand, I thought it would be worth it to send your way.  Plus sometimes it’s nice to have something new on the grill in the summer.

Marsala Salmon Packets
Never mind the color of the greens under the salmon, it will happen when they cook too long.  And feel free to toss in mushrooms or other ingredients to your liking.  We served this with some buttered pasta, but anything would go well here.  Makes 2 packets.

½ pound sockeye salmon, cut into portions

4 cups ‘spicy’ greens such as mustard greens or broccoli rabe

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 large clove of garlic, minced

2 sprigs of rosemary

3 Tb. Marsala, divided

2 Tb. Olive oil, divided

Salt and Pepper

Prepare your grill.

Place two overlapping sheets of foil onto the counter, they should be about a foot long.  In the center of this, place 2 cups of the greens, it will seem like a lot, but they will cook down.  Next, sprinkle with half of the onion and garlic, then top with salmon portion, skin side down.

Season salmon with salt and pepper, and place the rosemary on top.  Curl the foil slightly upwards to prevent any liquid from leaking out and pour Marsala and olive oil around fish. 

Fold two sides in towards the middle, then bring the other two sides up over the fish and fold them down (or roll them down) together towards the fish.  I prefer to keep the packets a bit loose, but Joe likes them rolled more tightly for ease of moving them around the grill.

Place on the grill over direct heat and cook for about 10 minutes.  You can always open a packet to see if the fish is cooked.  Remove from grill and serve.