[TND] 5.20 Grilled Salmon with Tzatziki Sauce

I had a good bit of the cucumber, mint, dill and yogurt sauce leftover from a re-creation of the last Tuesday night dinner this weekend, and was trying to think of a way to use it up. My first thought was actually lamb kebabs, grinding the lamb with spices and pistachios and forming it around skewers, sort of a mini version of the spinning stick. But I didn't have luck finding stew lamb last week, so I decided to go with salmon.

Interestingly, the farmed salmon and wild caught salmon were about four cents difference in price, and lying right next to each other in the case. The difference in color is pretty stark, with the farmed salmon being this pale, sickly orange and the wild caught a more vibrant reddish-orange. It's also, in general, a good idea to avoid farmed salmon, as farmed salmon is often treated with pesticides and antibiotics, isn't really sustainable and can spread disease to wild fish populations. But the color is really something I've been trying to pay more attention to, not just in fish, but in pretty much all meats.

My initial plan was to crust the salmon and pan roast it, but I bought more salmon than would fit in my pan, so I moved it the grill. I still crusted it with the same spices: salt, pepper, sate seasoning from Penzey's, and cayenne pepper. I made a cucumber and feta salad with mint and dill and sweet onion, and roasted some potatoes to with it. Simple and delicious.

I've been watching a lot of Jamie at Home, a recent series by Jamie Oliver which is probably the best food tv I've ever seen. It's basically him, in rural Essex, with a ginormous organic garden and him making dishes featuring things from said garden. I really enjoy the way he cooks in general. The second season of his first show was airing while I was studying in England, having to feed myself for real for the first time, and his food was simple, accessible and grounded in very generalizable techniques. The style, the idea that food can be a bit messy and needs to be fun, is something that's really stuck with me. This new show combines that with beautiful ingredients, and it really works. So I'm inspired to make some things from the show, in particular, to get more familiar with the pasta machine Dave got me. He made it look very quick, probably as easy as going to the freezer to get a package of pasta, and that's a place I'd like to be.