Day Nine: Hashing Things Out

I had a bit of a false start this morning, when my Irish Cream latte didn't taste much like Irish Cream at all. I ordered sugar free, which apparently equals flavor free, so my Irish Cream aversion was not challenged today (there's a story behind this--I'll tell you later) and since I didn't fancy another latte and I'm not drinking alcohol this January (yet another New Year's resolution), it will have to wait for another time. I have plenty of days ahead of me to eat foods I don't like (nine down, 111 to go).

BUT--my new issue of Food Network magazine did arrive a few days ago, and with it, a list of low-calorie weeknight menus, including salmon hash. So the hubby and I hit the grocery store, found a slab of salmon (among other ingredients) and then wandered, looking for things we could buy that I don't like. So along with our regular grocery haul, we came home with canned beets, lima beans, sauerkraut, and fruit cups. Also almond milk, but not because I don't like it--I'm just curious, and we eat a heckuva lot of dairy. It was kind of a fun grocery trip, despite the crazy shoppers who seemed to be playing some sort of Grand Theft Shopping Cart game.

Anyway. Back to salmon hash.

The recipe called for Greek yogurt and I only had regular, so I got to use Alton Brown's cool trick for yogurt transformation (though I used paper towels instead of cheesecloth). Since the husband was curling (you know, with the stones and the brooms and the ice--he does that) I was left to butcher the salmon myself, or at least to rinse off the scales, separate the meat from the skin, and pull out all the little bones. I'll admit, I screamed when I first saw the skin side of the fillet, alarming my cat. But I told myself, Laura, you just have to suck it up. It's a fish. It has skin. Get over it.

So I did. I chopped up the fish and the veggies, cooked it, and put it all together. I know I'm not on the cooking-things-for-the-first-time portion of the experiment yet, but it was my first time cooking fish.
It did not come out as beautiful as the photo in the magazine. Still, it was tasty and the fish was moist.

I think I've got to cut the crap, fish-wise, and face a fillet head-on. I'm starting to like the flavor of salmon, but I've been eating it in strange ways. Still, even with little pink chunks hiding in a mess of veggies and potatoes, I hesitated to take my first bite tonight. I thought, Ew. Fish. And yet, while eating, I found the salmon flavor to be a gorgeous complement to the potatoes, onions, peppers, baby greens, and dill dressing. But it was just that: a complement. Not a hit-you-in-the-face, full-on fish flavor. As a dear friend said to me, it's time to take the training wheels off. I'm ready.