ArcaMax

When I was in my thirties, I vowed I would never eat my dinner before 7 p.m. I thought that was more sophisticated and I didn’t understand the idea of an early bird special. That was totally alien. That was for the very old. My goal was to be a big-city woman and eat at a civilized hour and 7 p.m. or later was civilized. It meant you had grown up. In large cities I was even known to dine at 10:30 p.m. or later. That might be an after-theatre dinner.

I was so set on this 7 p.m. or later thing that when my mother-in-law came to visit for a week, I stuck to my 7 p.m. serving time, even though I knew darn well my mother-in-law was used to eating earlier. My justification was that it took me that long to get home from work, prep and serve a decent home-cooked meal.

My mother-in-law talked about how she preferred to eat earlier but she was polite and waited until dinner was served.

She never ate all her dinner. She sort of picked at it but I didn’t realize that when you’re in your 60’s you probably can’t handle a meal that big, that late, but that’s a discussion for later. Today we are talking about what time to eat.

My husband found this data in a news-information little newsletter he gets each morning. It said:

Good morning. If you had to guess, when would you say most Americans eat dinner? Fine, we’ll tell you: 6:19 p.m. That’s peak dinner-time for the biggest share of American households, according to a FlowingData analysis of the American Time Use Survey....

Read the full column at PlanZDiet.com

Creamy Tomato Skillet Salmon

This comes together fast and easy yet it is fancy enough to serve to company. I just drooled over my dinner!

This tasty recipe is originally from Eating Well magazine. I didn’t have to do much to Zolafy this one ??

Servings: Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 pieces of salmon approx 6 oz each. Have your fish monger remove the skin. That will save you time and keep you from an accident.
¼ tsp of grated sea salt
¼ tsp of grated black pepper
2 Tbl of olive oil
1 medium zucchini cut in half lengthwise and then thinly sliced into half-moon shapes
1 cup of chopped sweet onion (Vidalia)
¼ cup of dry white wine
15 oz can diced tomatoes. I buy fire-roasted with no salt.
2 oz of cream cheese cut into cubes
1 tsp of Italian seasoning
½ tsp of garlic powder
¼ cup of chopped, fresh basil to garnish (optional but the color looks nice)

Instructions:

Pat the salmon dry with paper towel and then sprinkle on the salt and pepper. Heat the oil over medium-high heat. I use a large cast iron pan but any large sauté pan can work. Add the salmon top-side down. Cook until the underside is browned and readily able to be flipped over without breaking up. The trick here is not to mess with it. Let it cook about four minutes without peeking or poking and it will be nicely browned. When you turn the salmon over cook it two to three minutes more (depends on how rare you like your salmon). Transfer to a plate and cover.

Do not rinse out your pan. Just add the onion and zucchini to the oil that’s in there. Cook for three minutes, stirring often. Add the wine and increase to medium-high. Cook until most of the liquid is evaporated. Add tomatoes, cream cheese, Italian seasoning and garlic powder.

Season again with salt and pepper if you choose. Stir until the cream cheese has melted and it’s all creamy goodness. Return the salmon to the pan and heat gently just to make sure the salmon gets hot again.

Serve on pretty plates and sprinkle on the basil. I plated mine next to the sauce but now that I have eaten it next time I’d serve the salmon on top of the sauce.

You are ready to serve.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola