I found this Baked Salmon recipe on Recipezaar - my favourite recipe site on the web. Not surprisingly, I modified it from the original to make use of what I had on hand. This recipe says "Great for Beginners!" in the description, and that appealed to me. I also wanted a fish recipe that my kids would like, and thought this might work. Surprisingly enough, the picky-middle-child ate it up, the girl practically threw it at me, and the oldest boy took a few bits, said it was good, and went back to Guitar Hero. So I almost had two out of three, and two out of three ain't bad. A side of easy rice pilaf and some steamed broccoli made for a colourful and healthy supper.
You may have noticed a theme going on here -- everything is being grilled. Well, it's summertime, and every summer we abandon the house to whatever critters are in here and move out onto the deck. I just can't stand heating up the house by turning on the oven so everything I make is done on the barbeque. Souvlaki is something I tried once, many years ago, and decided I didn't like. Then last Canada Day I was practically starving to death in the samosa line when a friend dragged me into the souvlaki line-up with her. Not one to pass up almost instantaneous food, I ate the souvlaki. Maybe it was the hunger but at that minute I really thought it was the best thing I had ever eaten. Tangy and very, very flavourful, it was totally satisfying.
This is a very simple recipe for Souvlaki. I'm not sure how authentic it is but it tastes pretty similar to the Canada Day version I had. Ideally the chunks of marinated pork would be threaded onto skewers, but if you are lazy like me you can grill them in a grill basket. I have in the past also cheated slightly by using a Souvlaki herb blend by Victorian Epicure Selections out of British Columbia, so if you can find a blend like that it can be substitued for the oregano and lemon pepper.
