grilled salmon with roasted tomatoes and wild rice pilaf

a trip to trader joe's always inspires. looking for something healthier and lighter to combat the heaviness and richness of eating out all last week, christien and i decided to go the fish route for sunday nite dinner. i picked up a couple of salmon fillets, a box of mixed small tomatoes, a package of wild rice pilaf, and some small artichokes.

i first prepped the artichokes by cutting off the top quarter and the stem and snipped off the spiky tips of the leaves with kitchen shears. this then went into a pot of water seasoned with salt, pepper, olive oil, distilled vinegar and a few sprigs of oregeno. sorry, no pic here.

i then washed the tomatoes and tossed them with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. the roasting pan went into a 450 degree oven for about 20 minutes.

the rice pilaf was made according to package directions and left to steam on the stovetop for an extra 20 minutes

in the meatime, i prepped the fish by rinsing in cold water and patting dry with paper towels.

salt, pepper, paprika and lemon juice made up the seasonings.

the salmon went into a hot grill pan, skin side down, for about 8 minutes. i then flipped it to grill another 4 or 5 minutes until just cooked through. you want to avoid overcooking salmon as it gets dried out and tough easily if you don't watch it.

meanwhile the tomatoes came out to rest on the stovetop while i checked the artichokes.

in this method, the artichokes are done when you can easily pull an inner leaf from the choke and the leaf is soft and tender.

and voila! sunday nite dinner is served. first up, artichokes drizzled with olive oil and served with a ramekin of mayonnaise and paprika.

then the salmon on a bed of wilted argula (the heat from the fish wilts it) served with rice pilaf and roasted tomatoes.

the salmon was well seasoned and moist, due to cooking with the skin on; it keeps the juices in. the peppery arugula provides a nice counterpoint to the greasier fish. the tomatoes were savory and sweet, providing a lot of great acidity against the fish as well. the pilaf, unfortunately, was underwhelming. it was too mushy in texture and i didn't season it with enough salt. i'm not used to making pilafs. asian cooking just requires rice and water. nevertheless, the meal came out great overall.

for dessert, i picked up some medjool dates, removed the seed, and then stuffed it with goat cheese. the result is a creamy, sticky sweet, and subtly tart couple of bites of goodness. i first had this at samovar tea lounge a couple months ago and jumped at the opportunity to make them when i saw the medjool dates at trader joe's.

all in all, a very healthy and light-tasting meal. unfortunately, we still subcumbed to food coma due to very big portions. ah well. yum.