Day 1: Grocery Shopping, Salmon with Greens and a Salad

Divide and conquer:
After meal planning, the next step of any successful menu is getting the goods. Colin and I split the shopping to make it faster. With another snowstorm predicted for southeastern Wisconsin the stores could have been overrun. Turns out stores were pretty quiet. About $105 later, buying for quality, we stocked the pantry and fridge.

Too much food?

Show me the money:
Spending about $105 on dinner ingredients isn't that great of a deal: about $8.75 per dinner serving. Add in leftovers for lunch $105 for 6 days for 2 people, 2 meals a day is spending only $4.38 per meal per person. Way cheaper than you can eat similar food out.

What's on the menu?
Today the menu is:

• Pan-Roasted Salmon with Collards and Radish Raita (Bon Appetit: March 2013)
• Green Salad for One (for two) (How To Boil Water: Life Beyond Takeout p. 80)

Recipes ready to go. Fresh flowers to mark a fresh start!

Turning up the heat:

There was more vegetable prep involved in this recipe than I prefer for a week night, but it is so good to eat those dark green leafy veggies.

Radish and raita.

 The recipe called for skinned salmon, but we couldn't find it so we used salmon that already had the skin removed. Other than shortening the time by 2 minutes during the first cooking, no other modifications were necessary.

Greens wilting and salmon roasting.

Chow down:
It doesn't look as good as the professional photography, but it tasted good. Greens are bitter, raita is delicious, like tzatziki. Lots of green leaves for dinner and a little fish. The fish was tender and flaky.

Looks a little pale and faded, but tasted good.

Delightful, simple salad. Delicious.

Ready for more?
Dawn of a New Dinner was a success. Now for the cleanup.