Did you know that wild salmon are originally bred in fresh water, but swim out to the salt water for most of their lives? But then at a point in their lives, they swim back upstream, fighting the deathly currents, defying nature-given gravity, and thrashing their flipper-tails like crazy to get back to fresh water to spawn and eventually die?

The first time I heard this, my first thought was: “Wow, they are freaking strong.” And then my second thought was: “Wow, they are freaking stupid.”

I couldn’t understand it before. So these fishy little friends work their ass off, going against all odds, fighting and sweating and threading through jagged rocks, just to go and give birth to baby salmons and…die?

But perhaps God is emphasizing something. He makes these salmon fishes go through such extremes to breed new life, and gives them the instinctive desire to do so. They work hard— so freaking hard— to get there, and may even lose their lives doing so, but they understand that their time has come, and that it’s for a greater purpose.

And that says the same for us humans. It takes more than a single grunt and push to give birth to a life. No, the woman has to carry the baby inside of her for 9 whole months, all the while enduring all kinds of discomfort and awkwardness and pain. But the result is something much more glorious and beautiful, something worth every trouble and sweat and blood: A new creation, a new life. If we popped out babies as easy as a popcorn machine, we most likely wouldn’t be appreciating and treasuring a human’s life as much.

In the same way, God is also pointing out to us the beauty of sacrifice. Life can’t always be about me, me, me. I might work my ass off for my own glory, comfort and leisure, but self-profiting awards sure don’t share the same raw and poignant significance as the accomplishment of service and dedication to others.

If there’s one thing I learned from salmons, it is to treasure lives, and not just mine.

The other thing I learned from salmons is that they are mighty tasty! Now, I don’t know if this salmon I had for lunch ever got the chance to do some self-sacrifice for spawning, but it sure did some self-sacrifice for my gastronomic pleasure. I’m sure it died in peace in comfort of that knowledge.

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon on Ratatouille

The Ratatouille base:
for the tomato sauce:

• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1/4 medium onion, minced
• 4 oz canned tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons chicken broth
• 2 sprigs fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp sugar

for the vegetables:

• 1 big tomato, sliced
• 1/2 zucchini, sliced
• 1 yellow squash, sliced
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1/2 eggplant, sliced
• extra-virgin olive oil
• fresh basil leaves, chopped
• salt and pepper

Additional ingredient: handful crumbled goat cheese

For the sauce, just dump everything into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat until the flavor are absorbed and it is slightly thickened. Fish out the rosemary. Then spread the sauce onto the bottom of a small oven-proof skillet:
For the vegetables, start layering it over the tomato sauce:

Drizzle with a bit of olive oil. Sprinkle with basil leaves and season with salt and pepper.
Cover the skillet tightly with foil, and bake in the oven at 300 degree Fahrenheit for about 2 hours. Then uncover, sprinkle with goat cheese, and bake for another 20 minutes or so.

The Salmon:

for the fish:

• about 5oz fresh salmon
• salt and pepper

for the glaze:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/3 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

For the fish, just season both sides with salt and pepper, then cook in a frying pan over medium heat on both sides until done. Set it aside on a plate.

Then pour all the glaze ingredients into the pan, and cook over high heat. When the mixture starts to boil, lowed the heat to medium, and cook, stirring, until thick and reduced.

This is how the ratatouille looks when done:
Ladle the vegetables with the sauce onto a plating dish. Make it as tidy and pretty as you can! Then lay the cooked salmon on top. Drizzle on the glaze, and sprinkle with a bit more goat cheese. Voila!
Now, wasn’t that worth it, my dear salmon! Look how pretty you are!
I was positivel
y swooning with each bite. Holy Salmon! Everything worked so well together: the flavorful vegetables underneath drenched in rich tomato sauce, absorbing all the lovely oils from the salmon.
And the acidic-sweet, sticky balsamic glaze permeated through the flesh of the warm salmon, cutting the oily fishy odor of the fish…
The goat cheese was the perfect tangy topping…
My mouth couldn’t stop watering even while I was eating this. So, so, so good!
I don’t think this lovely piece of salmon died in vain. Nope, not at all.
Sorry, one last picture to honor the Great Salmon…

Yes, indeed. We should all be like salmons. But not necessarily as tasty.

By the way, thank you so much for your responses on my last post! All suggestions were really welcome and helpful, and  your kind words really touched me. Honestly, the thing I was stressed out most about blogging in college was the fact that I would miss the blogging community too much. And I hate that I might not be able to comment as frequently. But seems like a lot of you won’t be blogging daily either, so it all works out!

And as for what changes my blog will have…Well, it’ll be a fun experiment, but I’m glad the level of “fabulousness” in you guys will never change!!  

Question of the day: Favorite way to enjoy salmon? Oh, and so sorry if you’re a vegetarian…I hope I didn’t ruin your dinner speaking in such…carnivorous terms

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5. POM-tastically Different

Tagged as: cheese, eggplant, herbs, maple syrup, onions, salmon, squash, tomato, zucchini