Dan Bites

I made this delicious salmon on the grill with some cedar planks. To go with it I made a miso soup and a cherry tomato caprese. This menu was kind of all over the map, but it worked out.

I first made the caprese. I simply quartered the cherry tomatoes and cut some mozzarella di bufalo and then tossed them with a drizzle of olive oil, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, and some sliced up basil from my back porch. A little salt and pepper to bring out the flavors and that was ready.

Then I got the soup rollin’. I chopped up 4 green onions, half a package of shiitake sliced, 7 fingerling potatoes cut into bite sized pieces, and a carrot cut into half-moons.

I dumped them all into about 6 cups of water and brought it all up to a boil. Once boiling I turned the heat down to medium and let it all simmer for about 10 minutes, just until the veggies were softened and tender. Then I added about a teaspoon of dashi-no-moto and turned the heat down to medium-low. I covered it and kept it warm while I grilled the salmon.

I had a beautiful piece of salmon that weighed in at 20 ounces. Perfect for 4 portions at 5 ounces each. I simply seasoned it with salt and pepper and then laid some sprigs of rosemary on top that I cut from my plant out back.

I had a couple of small cedar planks that I soaked in water for about 2 hours. You can see from the picture that they were pretty cheap as I’ve never had cedar burn up quite as quickly as these did. It did no harm to the fish though as it stayed nice and moist and absorbed some great smokey cedar flavor. I also had a couple of bok choy that I halved and grilled. I was careful to keep the green leaves away from any direct heat to keep them from burning. They still charred a little around the edges, but that just added some flavor.

When all was ready I cut the salmon up and served it on top of the bok choy. I had some white rice as well. For the soup, I found some bean sprouts in my bottom drawer so I threw them in at the last minute as they don’t need much cooking at all. Then I mixed in 2 heaping tablespoons of shiro miso and served it up.