another day...breathing easier.

okay so i woke up this morning with the decision to push forward. what more can i do? i've talked until i'm blue in the face...it's obviously changed nothing. the lack of concern or care on his end is disturbing. if you are someone's world, shouldn't that mean something? shouldn't they worry when they do something to hurt your feelings or make you upset?

but i digress.

i'd really like to start the day on a happier note. i made a wonderful dinner last night, i wish i would have taken pictures of it...it really was beautiful. here's what i did:

salmon filet (skin on or off. i suck at taking salmon skin off when it is raw. if my favorite butcher is there when i buy it, he'll cut it off for me, but when i do it, i lose too much good meat.)
one lemon, sliced into rounds
fresh rosemary (i'd say a sprig for each piece of fish, but it depends on how much you want to use. i use a lot.)
oil oil
garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

preheat your oven to 350
get a piece of foil torn out that is big enough to wrap your salmon in loosely
rub the salmon filet(s) with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper. you're going to get a lot of flavor from the other ingredients so i don't use a lot to begin with. better to have to salt and pepper your fish when its out of the oven than to put too much on to begin with. i like to use coarse salt and pepper or kosher salt with salmon. place the fish in the middle of the foil sheet (skin side down if it is still on). place the rosemary on top of the fish. i tear the sprig up to get as much of the fish covered as possible. then place your thinly sliced lemon rounds on top of the rosemary. two - three lemon wedges are pretty average for a filet. drizzle a little more olive oil over the put together fish and i'll usually throw some more rosemary around the fish for good measure. wrap the foil packet up so it is sealed, but not wrapped tight. you want some room in the packet so the steam from the oil and cooking fish will keep circulating in there to give it more flavor. put the foil packet in a baking dish and bake for 20-30 minutes. because of all the steam in the packet, don't open it to check on it for at least 20 minutes. you don't want to let all that goodness escape. i like my salmon just a tiiiiiiny bit on the dry side, so for an average 7 or 8 oz filet, i'll cook it wrapped in the foil for 25-30 minutes, then i'll unwrap it and bake it for another 5 minutes or so with the top of the packet open. just keep your eye on it.

in those last five minutes of cooking, get a skillet on the stove top, heated to medium heat. pour in about a tablespoon to a tablespoon and a half of olive oil. let the oil get hot (about 2 minutes on medium heat should do it). season the oil. you'll know it is hot enough when your seasonings start to sizzle. watch the salt, olive oil has plenty on it's own. i like dried minced onion, a touch of cayenne pepper and garlic powder. let your seasonings cook for a minute then throw fresh spinach in the pan. immediately start to flip and stir it. it will only need to cook for about a minute. keep tossing it in the pan until all the spinach looks wilted and darker in color. immediately plate it when it gets to this point. if you leave it in the hot pan, it will over cook very quickly.

spread the spinach on the center of the plate. take yoru salmon out of the oven. remove the lemon slices with tongs or a fork. get a metal spatula and slide it between the skin and the good meat (you'll be able to to this very easily now that it is cooked). place the now skinless salmon in the middle of the spinach and voila!!! dinner is served.

okay so, as sad as that is, just typing that out cheered me up. :) i have job descriptions to write now, so i'll get to it.

thank you for reading. i need an outlet such as this. and i'll be damned if some boy is going to break my spirit.