Graduation dinner - Roasted Salmon

Actually, this post is a little bit late, but I've been so busy experimenting in the kitchen that I got too lazy to post up pictures of my graduation night dinner! It wasn't a big thing; we had a simple (but delicious!) dinner at our family friends' house in Escondido - Dad didn't even want to think of the lines outside of any restaurant within 20 miles of UCSD on the night of our graduation ceremony. But I wanted to post these pics because they were taken with a DSLR - our host is an avid photographer (though not of food). I got a little overexcited with the picture-taking during dinner preparation as I danced around Mom with the bulky camera while everyone else stared in bemusement.

Dinner was actually pretty healthy, which was fine by everyone except perhaps Dad (though he usually doesn't have a say in that). We bought the biggest pieces of salmon fillet ever (the fish must have been a monster), and because it was from Costco, it was pretty damn fresh. Look at the orange on that thing - it was literally glowing through the plastic. We topped it with a rough mixture of Montreal steak seasoning, dill, basil, garlic salt, and whatever other kind of ready-made spice mix we had on hand. Then drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil, bake at 400F for about 20 minutes, and voila! Dinner is served. I was kind of disappointed with the second salmon picture (taken just before it entered the oven) because I was trying not to get in the way of Mom and Aunt Sally, which resulted in a slightly blurry photo. Oh well, though...you can still tell that it was a very nice piece of fish.

We had it served with stir-fried asparagus and wild rice - very simple and clean. I cut up some lemons to top the salmon, and it was perfect. No regrets about eating at home for graduation night. Then afterwards, we had a chocolate mousse cake topped with maraschino cherries, which our hosts had bought me as a graduation present. It was delicious, but to tell the truth, I was already stuffed from dinner and had more fun taking pictures of it. But hey - cake is never bad news to anyone, right?

All in all, a very fun and yummy night. I'm so glad to have such great family friends keep me company in San Diego throughout all four years of my undergraduate experience.