Recipe for Cedar Plank Salmon

Yesterday was one of those days where you really don't feel like heating up the oven to cook, so we decided to make some fresh salmon on the grill. It is so simple to make and delicious. What I do is I soak two cedar planks in water that my husband cuts from cedar shingles. We used to pay $10 for two planks and now we get a whole pack of shingles for $8 and get about a good 20 planks out of it. I love having a genius for a husband, he's so smart.

We are growing swiss chard in our garden amongst every kind of tomato you can imagine, squash, zucchini, eggplant, 4 different pepper plants and fresh herbs. This is the first year in our new house, so we are testing different types of vegetables to grow. The swiss chard was at peak yesterday, so I picked some leaves and threw them in a pan with a touch of garlic oil and sauteed for a few minutes. Yummy!

Swiss chard is similar to spinach and beets with a flavor that is bitter, pungent and slightly salty. It is truly one of the vegetable valedictorians with its exceptionally impressive list of health promoting nutrients. Swiss chard is one of several leafy green vegetables often referred to as "greens". It is a tall leafy green vegetable with a thick, crunchy stalk that comes in white, red or yellow with wide fan-like green leaves. It is a wonderful source of Vitamin K which boosts bone health and Vitamin A which is beneficial for vision nutrients.

Last summer, I would buy salmon on cedar planks at Wegman's. At $7.98 per plank the price was ridiculous and we could certainly find a cheaper way to do this, but they always gave you a seasoning to put on the salmon that was addicting. For some time, I would budget accordingly and would treat us from time to time to this special meal. I decided to put on my culinary hat one day and recreate the seasoning, which I found later to be so easy. If you use this on your salmon for dinner guests, I can guarantee that you will get praises and accolades and crowned culinary queen or king from your guests.

Recipe for Cedar Planked Salmon

Serves 4

4 small cedar planks

16 oz of salmon divided into 4 oz pieces

2 T of brown sugar

1 T of montreal steak seasoning

oil to coat fish

Directions:

1. Mix together brown sugar and montreal steak seasoning in a small bowl.

2. Coat fish with oil and put on cedar planks that have been soaked in water for a half an hour.

3. Top with seasoning.

4. Grill accordingly.