Homemade and Simple Meal for Valentine's Day

Tomorrow will be Valentine's Day; a day where couples in love will celebrate that love with gifts, cards and special meals.  This year will be a bit different for my hubby and myself; due to his current job situation, he will be away from home.  Will we be alone though?  Perhaps in a physical sense; he will be with coworkers on a job while I'm home with the pets, nursing a severe head cold and hoping it won't go into my chest and turn into bronchitis.  But alone; not really, because no matter how close or far, Roy and I love each other above anyone or anything else.  We don't need one particular day to celebrate this love; we, in fact, celebrate it daily.  Personally, I believe that is why most relationships fail; the couples forget to celebrate the relationship, each other, and be thankful for it all.  They wait for the calendar and card companies to remind them that they are in love; very sad if you seriously think about it.

Before Roy went off to his work site, I prepared him a special meal of salmon and his favorite, what I call "evil", vegetables.  I enjoy cooking for him; I don't mind preparing meals that I, myself, would not eat because it's not all about me...it's all about him.   This meal is easy for even the novice cook to prepare; the fish is steamed over the vegetables allowing it to cook perfectly without burning or sticking to the skillet.  The flavors of the seasoning, vegetables and salmon intermingle in a delicate, not overpowering fashion.  It is simple, yet elegant; the type of meal no cook would be embarrassed to serve for a special occasion, or just because.

Don't be afraid of the serving size of ten I have listed.  I made enough that I could package some up and he could take with him to his work location to eat later on. 


Salmon Steamed Over Vegetables
Ingredients:

1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 lb. fresh green beans, tips removed
1 small head cauliflower, broken apart
4 large green onions, cut into 1/4 inch pieces
2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
10 - 4 oz pieces of salmon, skin and bones removed
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp crushed dried thyme
1/4 cup fresh, chopped cilantro

Preparation:

In a large skillet, place oil, wine, green beans, cauliflower, onions and worcestershire sauce in and turn heat to medium.  This will become your steaming rack for the salmon.

Sprinkle the salt, black pepper and thyme over both sides of the salmon; place the salmon on top of the vegetables. Cover with a lid and leave it alone for 20 minutes. This is important, LEAVE IT ALONE; no peeking, prodding or poking; otherwise you'll lose that steam and that is what is doing all the work for you.

Before serving, sprinkle the cilantro over the salmon; the fresh, green herb will brighten up, and add an appealing final note, to the entire dish.

As I stated before, this will make 10 servings all together; but the recipe can easily be adjusted for less; or even more if you intend on serving it at a dinner party.  Enjoy!

Mary Cokenour