News Taffy

My husband and I don’t get away without our kids very often but this past weekend wewere lucky enough to get to the Alluvian Hotel and Spa in Greenwood, Miss. We werecelebrating our 21st wedding anniversary and also attended a Viking cooking schoolclass.

Mental health is something we don’t think about very often but taking a break fromyour every day life is good for your mental health. Doing something differentstimulates the mind. It doesn’t have to be fancy or elaborate, just a stay in adifferent town can do the trick. We found a wonderful bookstore, TurnRow Books,which carried many authors and books we weren’t familiar with. The owners were veryknowledgable and widely read so they were able to make recommendations. We cameaway with an armload of books for ourselves and friends. A cooking class may bejust the thing to inspire you to eat more healthfully as well, though I can’t saythe Viking cooking classes focus on heart healthy menus.

Trying different food in new restaurants is also a good way to stretch your mind andintroduce new foods to your diet. We had lamb sliders as an appetizer at Giardina’srestaurant and the lamb was so tender and delicately flavored. They were trulydivine. Lamb was something my parents never cooked at home so I tried it in arestaurant before experimenting with cooking it myself.

I often try to reproduce food at home that I eat in a restaurant, especially if itseems uncomplicated and I can figure out most of the ingredients. I am not good atpicking out which spices may have been used in a dish. Anyway, I had a wonderfulgrilled salmon salad at a restaurant in Greenwood called Delta Bistro. I highlyrecommend this restaurant if any of my readers plan to be in Greenwood. Hot grilledsalmon was served over a bed of greens and a tomato dressing on the side. I enjoyedit so much that I served it to my family on Labor Day. Filling, nutritious, and lowin calories, it doesn’t get much better. Here is my version of Grilled SalmonSalad.

Grilled Salmon Salad

INGREDIENTS:

*10 oz. package of your favorite salad greens 

*1 can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped coarsely 

*1/2 cup halved black olives (optional) 

*1 cup halved cherry tomatoestomato salad dressing (I used Braswell’s Vidalia Onion and Summer Tomato dressing) 

*4 small salmon filletsolive oil 

*1 tsp. dried rosemary 

*salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat grill to medium high heat. Place salad greens in a large bowl. Addartichokes, olives and tomatoes and toss to mix well. Brush salmon with olive oiland sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper. Grill salmon about 10 minutes,flipping once until just done. Divide salad among 4 plates, topping each with asalmon fillet. (Make sure to remove skin from fish first.) Drizzle with tomatodressing and serve immediately. A piece of toasty, buttery, garlic bread will gonicely with this salad. Next time, I think I’ll add a few shaves of a good parmesancheese.

Until next week,

Lisa