Grilled Salmon Salad

I love to eat out.  Part of it is the food, part of it is that I love being waited on and not having to do dishes.  I also love getting ideas for my own kitchen, particularly salads.  I love a really good salad, but always feel like mine are a little lacking in creativity.  Great American Restaurants, however, make a salad that I love so much that I hardly order anything else.  Coastal Flats, Silverado's, Artie's, and all the others all have a variation of this salad.  It's the Short Smoked Salmon Salad. Obviously salmon is the key component: a nice fillet right on top of a bed of field greens. I also always opt for the fried goat cheese for an additional $1. This brings the salad to about $17.  Last night, I decided that it was time to create my own version.

I went to Wegman's and picked up salmon. Since we don't have a smoker, I decided to grill instead (or rather, have DH grill for me).  I picked up french cut green beans and pee-wee potatoes.  Our salad greens came from the farmers' market (we buy a big bag each week).

It was beautiful.

It was also delicious.  Depending on which restaurant, sometimes it comes with asparagus, sometimes it comes with green beans.  I made the decision based on what looked freshest.  Sometimes it also has tomatoes or grilled onions. I kept it pretty simple, to let the salmon and goat cheese shine.

Serves 4.

Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets

She's Back!

It's been quite awhile since I posted in this blog, but a lot's been going on around the Homestead.

Most importantly, DH and I are expecting our first child at the end of August.  Although we're planning on delivering in a hospital, we're going for an unmedicated, natural birth. We were surprised to find out that under 5% of the births in our area are unmedicated.  Then again, with the number of people telling me to "take the drugs," maybe I'm not so surprised.

Because I'm currently seven months pregnant, and knew I would be limited in my stooping abilities and desire to work out in the heat and humidity this summer, we've scaled back the garden.  We're still growing tomatoes, five plants total. There are three sad looking butternut squash plants, a cucumber plant in a hanging pot, lots of herbs, hot and sweet peppers, and strawberries that I started from seed last year.  We're also taking full advantage of the farmers' market for good greens and fresh fruit.

I love the first day of the farmers' market because it's the first day that I can get strawberries. I know that I can get them at the grocery store, but after getting them straight from the source, Safeway's just can't satisfy me.  We buy quarts and quarts of strawberries.  Some are just for eating, some are for desserts, some go in salads, and some end up in jam.

Here is a strawberry almond tart:

This came from a recipe I pinned on Pinterest.  Here's a link to the original. We made this for Mother's Day and it was a big hit.  Just behind, you can see homemade whipped cream.  

So go ahead, enjoy that fresh produce!