Dash to the Sea

Although I didn't make it to the sea, I did make it to Costco, and that was good enough for me. Really, I broke down and decided I wanted salmon. The UC has never been good at cooking fish in my opinion. The fish they serve generally looks good but it is always dry and hard to choke down...maybe that is the true reason we waste so much food at PLU. We are attracted to the food by how it looks and shortly after we sit down and start eating we realize that the beautiful food has deceived us and is inedible - in which case I wouldn't even feed it to the raccoons that walk past the Common's windows. We then go back and to the lines to get something else. Again, a quarter of a dish is eaten when it gets to the point that it is unbearable to eat. Some of us settle and go for another dish, some of us leave discontent, and others of us, like Davey Fisher, go and eat four bowls of cereal. Ok, Davey is different and smart enough to not fall for the false advertising of the food - he goes straight to the cereal.

Taking our half eaten dishes of food we go and place them on the conveyer belt. Dining services then makes the conclusion that we are being served too large of potions. Slowly, this mentality that we are wasting food spreads until we are served smaller servings during every meal including lunch. We then over paying for even smaller meals. Its vicious cycle. The solution is easy enough. Serve food that people are willing to eat the whole serving and then no food gets wasted and cost can go down because less money is being spent on half eaten food.

Where was I...oh yes, Salmon. So I bought two pounds of Coho and Sockeye. I really didn't know the difference between the two so I thought it would do a comparison. I cooked them exactly the same way so that comparing them would be easier. I took long pieces of aluminum foil and then placed the fish on them.  I put onion under the whole fish. I seasoned them with a bit of salt, pepper, dill, and Montreal Steak Seasoning - my favorite season for meat. I then put onion and lemon slices on top. Folding up the sides of the tin foil, I squeezed lemon juice over the salmon to guarantee that it would stay moist. I then gave it another dash of dill and Montreal SS.

We cooked a pot full of wild rice from Costco as well. I loved it, but I definitely added butter to it. One of my favorite dishes that my grandmother cooks is a wild rice soup. It warms the soul. The last thing I made was plain old french bread. There is nothing like a fresh loaf of brown hot bread with butter melting on it. I also had the Cougar Gold cheese out as well. My friend really wanted to get this salad kit from Costco. Salads have never been a strength of mine so I didn't mind. When it comes to salads I turn to Kate Miller or Lynsey Tveit. Last night the salad was Dole's Cherry Almond Bleu. Bleu cheese crumbles, dried cherries, sliced almonds, and white balsamic vinaigrette over butter & Red Leaf lettuces. It was SO good. I am not really a fan of bleu cheese's but I didn't notice it at all.

Did I mention I had milk?

Everything worked well together. I actually had a piece of the Sockeye and was so content that I didn't take a bite of the coho until after I was stuffed. The sockeye had a darker pink color and was firmer than the coho, leaving the coho feeling mushy in my mind. If I had started with the coho I think it would be a different story. All in all I was happy with the meal. As for cost, I only spent around $42. For an expensive meat, we payed $5 each to cover all costs. A full well balanced meal - less than half the cost of an All-you-care-to-eat dinner at the Commons.