GARLIC!!

Two posts in one day, crazy! Today was a busy cooking day. This will definitely end on Monday when school starts, so I need to take advantage of my free time now.

I have a new obsession: The Fabulous Beekman Boys on Planet Green. It is about two gay city boys, Brent and Josh, who decided to start a farm in upstate New York. They bought a beautiful old mansion and have chickens, goats, pigs, and a llama named Polka Spot. They have started a business selling fancy goats milk soaps and cheese. To make things even better, Brent is an MD turned farmer. My new aspiration in life: become a doctor and own a farm on the side. And I want Polka Spot, she's such a diva.

After spending the day watching Beekman Boys episodes, I wanted to do something a little healthier for dinner using the rest of my CSA share. I was in the mood for salmon and I thought it would go great with roasted wax beans. They are almost exactly like regular green beans, but yellow. But they taste virtually the same. I went to 17th Street Market to pick up some fish and was informed that I would have to wait to pick up my fish until I checked out. I asked why and they said that they had a problem with people getting fish from the counter and then stealing it and selling it out on the street. How ridiculous!

This dish took me about 10 minutes to prepare and virtually has no cleanup. It was pretty tasty, but definitely only if you like garlic. Scratch that, LOVE garlic. This salmon has a lot of garlic, which I didn't mind, but I could definitely see that it could bother some. A complete meal in under 30 minutes.

Garlic Herb Salmon
adapted from ...in sock monkey slippers

• 2 4 oz salmon fillets (always use wild, not farm salmon!)
• 3 cloves of garlic
• Spice blend (I used Penzeys Spices Mural of Flavor)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven 425 degrees. Coarsely chop the garlic. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the salmon fillets, skin side down, on it. Drizzle some olive oil on top and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and spice blend. Add the garlic and gently press into the salmon. Place in oven and bake for 12-15 minutes or until the salmon is cooked and flaky.

As a side dish, I put the wax beans on another baking sheet lined with tin foil. Drizzle with a little olive oil and sprinkle with salt and place in the oven with the salmon.