Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Sweetening the Deal

I have been spending a lot of time over the past several weeks visiting with my grandmother at re-hab. (She's doing wonderfully, by the way. Moving to an assisted living facility on Wednesday!) And somehow we found ourselves talking about the benefits of eating fish. (ACK!!! I have always hated fish.)
My husband has a significant family history of heart disease and has often hinted that he would like it if I prepared fish for dinner. *GAG!* I tried tilapia a couple of times, but got the gag-reflex from the kids (and I wasn't very fond of it, either) so I had given up on that. But in my discussion with Grandma, I became convinced that I should give salmon a try.

So, last Saturday I took a deep breath and prepared salmon for dinner.

And...

I didn't think it was too bad. Yeah, I wasn't crazy about it, but I wasn't gagging over it either.
But my poor daughter. She ate, but she didn't like it. I reminded her that sometimes we eat because of the nutritional value, not the taste. And I tried to be a cheerleader for her in making healthy choices. Not sure she was buying into my enthusiasm.
All in all, I was feeling good about the dinner. Especially when Brian said something about having a happy heart - all those great Omega 3s, you know! And I decided I would begin preparing salmon for dinner once a month.
Then I approached Elizabeth and told her my intentions. I asked if she thought she could handle eating salmon once a month. And my Never-can-get-enough-sweets-teenager looked at me and asked, "Can we have cake, too?" So I agreed. In order to get my daughter to eat salmon once a month without fussing, on the nights I prepare fish I will also make dessert.
Yep. Sweetening the deal. Wondering if I can come up with a yummy, not-totally-bad-for-you dessert, so as to not completely negate the benefits of the salmon. Hoping we'll all have happy hearts!

And if you have any great salmon recipes, I'm open to suggestions! *grin*

Karen

9 comments:

Daveda said...

I have had salmon three times. First time I liked it. Second time *choke, GAG* Third time LOVED it!

I have come to the conclusion that it is all in how it's made. It really tasted different all three times :) If I ever attempt to make it myself, I will have to get the recipe from my step-dad, as he was the one who made it when I LOVED it!

Heidi said...

I love salmon and we just returned from salmon fishing up north. Caught one small one- and ate it. Yum. We eat it on salad and in cabbage/sausage soup.

Good luck with this salmon once a month sweet deal.

Susan Berlien said...

I added you to my reading list, so I won't miss anything :) You are very good.

Jessica Nelson said...

I love to sweeten the deal! LOL I used that quite often.

For salmon, there's some really yummy butter sauces. I even wonder if hollandaise would taste good with it.

Unknown said...

I had to aquire a taste for salmon as well but here is one really really yummy recipe! We also just like to bake it with honey mustard sauce on top. Enjoy!

Grilled Ginger Fish
½ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon fresh gingerroot, grated
¼ cup brown sugar
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dry mustard
6 fish fillets
In a large plastic bag, mix everything except fish. Add fish to mix and refridgerate for 4 to 8 hours before serving. Turn often. Heat grill to medium temperature. Grill fish until donw, but not dry, basting with marinade frequently. Fish will flake easily with a fork when cooked.

Laine said...

There are so many awesome Salmon dishes out there, one of my fav's is a salmon chowder YUM! And for sweetening the deal, awesome! I try to go for a healthier alternate on those things as well and so a fav here is zucchini choc. cake. I think you can get both recipes from allrecipes.com

PS. Thanks for the prayer I have read & prayed it many times!

Blessings
Elaine

PSS. I live in the midwest where fish isn't the best to get fresh, in fact frozen is better for us. and I like to get those VandeKamps which aren't so bad either!

Heidi said...

Bake it at about 425 or 450 for about 5-10 minutes until it flakes easily. Skin side down in the pan (unless it is skinless, like the fillets I bought today)

Cool it, chill it and serve it on salad. Or put it in the soup.

Thanks for visiting my blog tonight. Come again.

Heidi @ 2 Thinks to Share

Anonymous said...

We are big salmon fans here...I baste it with an asian sesame glaze or a teriaki glaze (the Iron Chef ones are good) & then broil it for about 15-20 min. depending on the thickness of the filet.


Love that, sweetening the deal! Can't help ya on the "semi-healthy" desserts though...wish I could... ;)

Patricia in nyc

The Cooleys said...

One of our all time favorite dinners is what we call Salmon Pockets. Take a piece of aluminum foil (large enough to hold veggies and salmon filet) layer with sliced zucchini, squash, mushrooms, green, red and yellow peppers. Place salmon filet on top of veggies. Sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning, drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Place two slices of lemon on top and fold foil to make a pouch or pocket. These can be cooked on the grill or in the oven 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until fish flakes easily. As for a healthy dessert - try pumpkin chocolate chip bread. YUM!