Lazy Saturdays

Saturday mornings are my favorite day of the week.  Every Saturday morning, rain or shine, year-round, the Davis Farmer's Market is open for business.  One of my favorite farmer's market in our area, this market has such an amazing selection of food, in addition to your standard zucchini, tomatoes, and peaches.  Yolo Land & Cattle sells some of the best Grass Fed and Finished Beef around.  They are very humane and respectful of their animals, which is very important to me.  Bledsoe Natural Pork has some of the most amazing pork, including smoked pork chops and bacon, I have ever tasted.  And as a bonus, it's completely allergy friendly, free from any added ingredients including any of those icky nitrates or nitrites. There are also numerous vendors selling pastured chicken and eggs, fresh cheese, wine, baked goods, and lets not forget about all the lovely organic fruits and vegetables lining the tables. 

This past Saturday, I stopped by Mission Fresh Fish's booth and picked up some fresh caught wild king salmon.  When I spoke with the vendor, she stated that the fish has been caught in Half Moon Bay only the day before.  It smelled so fresh and was so bright red, I couldn't wait to get home and cook it for dinner. I had also bought an entire flat of fresh, organic strawberries.  The farmer is in year two of the five year process of becoming certified organic so cannot legally call them "Organic" yet.  They don't use any of the harmful chemicals on their berries, which is a huge bonus for me because I am so sensitive to the sprays on strawberries.   

When I was getting ready to make dinner, I knew that I had to somehow incorporate the salmon and the strawberries together into my dinner.  I turned to Google and ended up finding an amazing sounding recipe from the Whole Foods website "Salmon with Strawberry Salsa" and I knew that I had to make something like this that would fit with my current allergy elimination diet as well as with what I had on hand.  It turned out amazing!  My mouth is still watering so much just thinking about this, that I am going to make this tonight for dinner!  

Salmon with Strawberry Salsa

2 6 oz. pieces fresh wild king salmon
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 basket strawberries, washed and dried then cored and diced
1/2 cucumber peeled, seeded and diced
1 large firm avocado diced
2 tablespoons mint finely chopped
2 tablespoons citrus juice (I used orange)
salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 350*.  Drizzle salmon with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.   Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes until cooked to desired level of done-ness.

While the salmon is cooking, mix together strawberries, cucumber, avocado, mind and citrus juice. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To serve, spoon half of the salsa on a plate and top with a piece of salmon.