cook: with grace and economy

Tamar Adler's An Everlasting Meal was definitely the inspiration for this night's dinner. On my recent run to Trader Joe's, I bought just Coho salmon filets and one large Yukon gold potato. But darn it,  I forgot to buy heavy whipping cream, and so used mostly buttermilk, a bit of Patrick's lowfat milk (because he needed his glasses of milk for dinner and his chocolate cookie) and what was left of a mostly empty bottle of heavy whipping cream for the mashed potatoes. Lots of butter though, and so the starchy side was delicious. With most of the dill left, I used in the marinade for grilling the salmon with salt and butter and in the dill cream sauce for the fish (dill, mayonnaise, sour cream, Colman's mustard, lemon juice, garlic). I also had carrots for which I squeezed the rest of sad orange and tangerines from the holidays, honey, and salt for the orange vegetable to simmer until tender.

I sure leaned into the orange on this meal: salmon, carrots and even blood orange soda. 

I wondered if beta carotene accounts for the orange color of the salmon? Why yes! The natural color of salmon comes from compounds known as carotenoids, particularly astaxanthin, which they acquire through their diet of krill, shrimp and algae. As these pigments accumulate in the flesh, they create the characteristic orange, pink or red colors.