Spring

I love salmon. I probably eat entirely too much of it.

But what I love about salmon are the possibilities available to turn this simple fish into so many different amazing dishes. Salmon's blank canvas allows for everything from rich, heavy cream sauces to light and lemony bases to enhance its taste.

When I came across this recipe for Roasted Salmon with a Lemon-Herb Matzo Crust, I thought, how perfect for this time of year, matzo is everywhere. If you have never had matzo, it's time to pick out a box.

It's basically a giant unleavened cracker and is quite enjoyable when slathered with butter...yes, I eat it this way...it's supposed to replace bread...so why not.

Anyway, the crust on this fish is to die for, so full of flavor with the herbs, lemon and butter. I highly recommend this dish for any night of the week. It's high on the yum factor.

We bought our house in Umbria ten years ago this past summer.

A couple of months after the sale was completed the former owners, Bruno and Mayes, came over for lunch. And as the lunch lingered, as lunches in Umbria do, Bruno interrupted himself in mid-lecture on the glories of Roman pasta.

“Asparagi,” he said calmly. He got up from his chair, crossed over to the wall of our ancient wood-burning oven and snapped off a pencil-thin spear of wild asparagus that was hiding in and among the other grasses.

“It’s all over the place,” he said. “April is the time. You’ll see hundreds of contadini in the fields and by the side of the road, harvesting them. Here, taste.”

I bit off the end of the slender stalk and chewed on it a bit. It was raw, of course, and a little stringy but the taste fairly attacked me with its vibrancy. Wild asparagus is way wilder than tame asparagus.

“Just imagine,” I thought, “how it’ll make my pee smell.”

With that noble scientific quest in mind, I immediately began to search for more. I looked all around the forno, where Bruno found his and then up the hill toward the olive trees, but there were no more spears to be found.

Sometimes it’s all about the cut. Take asparagus. Everyone loves the long, lanky, sexy look of a whole asparagus spear. (Sorry—sounds like I’m describing a brand of Gap jeans). Why would you want to wreck that by cutting it up?

Oh, yeah, there’s that awkward moment when you’re trying to cut those long spears with a fork on your dinner plate.

And the even more awkward moment when you push the woody bottom half of the spears over to the side of your plate because they’re undercooked.

Now consider this—with a few extra seconds of work upfront, you can have a beautiful, evenly cooked, easy-to-eat asparagus side dish that can take on a variety of flavors, too.

So I’m going to ignore my mother (who claims I tend to get a bit fussy about my vegetable cuts), and suggest that you try slicing your asparagus on the diagonal (sharply…at a sharp angle…on the bias…however you want to say it) for a change.

Have you seen that commercial that uses the Hall and Oats song “Baby Come Back”? The mop has been replaced by the sexy and efficient Swiffer and it’s  kinda stalking its erstwhile owner?  I think Romaine is going to be doing the same thing.  I’ve noticed that Mache started out as a green you could only find at the farmer’s market; Kenter Canyon and the like. But now, I’ve seen it at Trader Joe’s, Gelson’s and of course, Whole Foods. The label says ‘enjoy the nutty flavor’.  Lettuce? Nutty? Right on!

I looked it up and saw that it’s a powerhouse of nutrition and it’s other and more commonly used name is ‘lamb’s tongue’ because its shape resembles it.  Isn’t that adorable?

Now, lets get to the reason I’m pissing on your leg about this.  My 17-year old likes it! Now I have to say, there was a very important lubricant that ushered Lena over to the land of green: Joan’s on 3rd’s Vinaigrette.