This post it dedicated to my Aunt Gina, my god mother, my second mother, and the person that gives me the most promising and exciting encouragement to keep on writing! My Aunt Gina, "G" has lived in Philadelphia for her entire life, and moved to the North Wales area a few years after she married my Uncle Dan.
On May 1, 2004, my Uncle Dan passed from a sudden heart attack while on a business trip in Florida. He left behind my Aunt Gina, and their three children: Monica, Dana, and Evan, then 6, 4 and 2. My Aunt Gina and I have always had a uniquely special relationship. When struck with homesickness during my first year or so of college, I began to wonder just why I picked Saint Joseph's in the first place. But then, I see how much time I have been fortunate enough to spend at her house, sometimes weekends or weeks at a time. It's great really, I mean, she does my laundry, cooks me dinner, makes a bed for me, and places a hershey kiss on pillow. Ok, she doesn't really put a hershey kiss on my pillow, but it's wishful thinking, right G?! (hint hint!)
Once every week or so I receive a text message from Aunt Gina that says "Just bought some salmon, grilling some veggies, heating couscous and I have the wine, are you in!?"
Obviously I am ALWAYS in. We love this meal. We sit in her living room, plates on our lap, wine in hand, TV tuned into Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, and we gab until one of us falls asleep.
Just recently, while gushing over my infatuation with sun-dried tomatoes, my Aunt Gina mentioned that my Uncle Dan used to love sun-dried tomatoes, as well as salmon. So, I thought why not try one more recipe with my little sun dried wonders, and see if I can pair them with salmon as a remembrance of my Uncle Dan, as well as a dedication to the best date night partner, my Aunt Gina.
TA-DA! I present Sun-Dried Tomato Salmon!
I bought a Wild Alaskan Salmon patty from Trader Joe's and marinated it overnight in a small jar's worth of Sun-Dried Tomatoes in Olive Oil. Then, I threw it on a frying pan and cooked it on low for about 4 minutes on each side. I found some great bright peppers at the local farmers market, as well as some portobello mushrooms, onions and zucchini. I sauteed them in a skillet with olive oil, capers, and a dash of fresh garlic.
Since Aunt Gina and I both love a great salad, I tore up a head of romaine lettuce, sliced some fresh mozzarella, and added a few capers in their natural oil, whose flavor actually replaced any necessity for additional salad dressing.
Luckily, my roommates were around the house, and in need of some finals fuel. Before, I could even taste it myself, two of my veggie loving roomies, Megan and Katie, had forks in hard and were rapidly stabbing their forks into the salmon and the pile of veggies.
"Can we be quoted in your blog?!" they both yelled excitedly.
Meg : This is delicious beth
Katie: It's the perfect amount. a little late night touch for some finals energy!
Meg: I love the veggies. I'm not used to having the salmon with a salty topping, I normally put a honey dijon. But, I really liked the sun-dried tomatoes, they give it an extra punch.
Katie: I actually always eat around the sun-dried tomatoes. But, I like them in this.
Meg: I think it balances the salmon really well
Katie: The capers make a great, fun base for the salad. You don't even need additional dressing.
Meg: This you would not pair this with a bitter wine, but maybe with a sweeter wine, a Sauvignon Blanc.
Aunt Gina, I'm sure Uncle Dan would have loved this dinner. We'll make this together sometime. Actually, both Grey's Anatomy, and Private Practice are new episodes this week, and I will be finished finals by then. I smell a date night . . .
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