life & style // 16

 

Natalie Serafini
Editor-in-Chief
M editor
@theotherpress.ca

 

*mnota very good cook.

My impatience is such that
cooking is usually tossing a
can of soup on the stove and
heating, on extra-high heat, for
all of five minutes. Do you smell
that scorched butternut squash
soup? That’s the pre-packaged
scent of young adulthood.

One of my recurring

issues with cooking is that I’m
awful at coordinating meals.
Ican handle one element ofa
meal, but matching that with
complementary food stuffs
leaves me at a loss. Rather than
allowing myself to wander, lost,
through grocery aisles for all
eternity, I’m attacking this gap
head-on. This week I'll teach
you (and myself) a scrumptious
yet simple salmon recipe with
food pairings to go with it.

Salmon is a tremendously

healthy fish, with all those

: proteins, healthy fats, and

: antioxidants that you want in

: your diet. In addition to which,

: itcan be cooked in so many dif-

: ferent and easy ways, whether

: you want to fry, grill, broil, or

: roast the sucker. For this recipe,
: we'll be frying it ina pan, and

: figuring out the sort of sides you
: should include in your meal. I

: based this recipe off cooking

: for one, but you can adjust the

: amounts based on how many

: mouths you'll be feeding.

Salmon:

One single-serving
salmon fillet

Two cloves of
garlic, crushed and
roughly chopped

One tomato, sliced
Olive oil, for pan

Salt and pepper

: Inapan, drizzle roughly

: one-and-a-half tablespoons

: of olive oil, or enough to coat

: the pan for fish-flipping. Heat
: up the pan on medium-high

: and, once it’s warm enough,

: put your chopped garlic and

: sliced tomato into the pan.

: You'll want to cook the garlic

: and tomato for a while before
: adding the salmon, enough so
: that the tomato is getting soft
: and your kitchen is starting

: to smell ofallium sativum. :
: Once the garlicand tomato :
: have been cooking for a while

: (no more than about five min-

: utes), turn up the heat a bit and
: add your salmon. Don't jostle

: your salmon too much while

: it’s cooking, but do make sure

: you stir your garlic and tomato
: around to avoid burning.

Once your salmon has

: turneda light pink on one side,
: flip it over. Keep cooking the

: salmon, checking to make sure
it’s cooking all the way through. :
You can do this by slicing into

: the middle of the salmon fillet.
: Ifit’s anice light pink on the

: inside, it’s fine; if it’s closer toa
: hot pink, keep on cooking. Add
: alittle salt and pepper, and plate :
: your salmon once it’s thor-

: oughly cooked but not burnt.

To pair:

: Salmon is delightfully paired

: witha light grain and some

: green veggies. I would recom-
: mend cooking up some brown
: or wild rice beforehand—be

sure to allot plenty of time

: for these rices, as they tend to

: cook slowly. Alternatively, for

: a faster grain addition, try out

: some couscous. It’s a quick and
: easy addition to any meal, and
: leftovers can be saved in the

: fridge and made into a yummy
: couscous salad later. To get

; more creative, try adding an

: herb that will be complemen-

: tary to the rest of your meal,

: ora drizzle of lemon for zest.

For green veggies, try out

some asparagus. My preferred

theotherpress.ca

: method of cooking asparagus
: is by “grilling” it on a stovetop.
: While you heat your pan on

: medium-high heat, lightly

brush your asparagus with

: some olive oil. Do not drench

: the asparagus in olive oil: too

: much oil isn’t healthy, and

: also negates your pseudo-grill
: technique—you might as well

: sauté if you add too much oil.

: Once the pan is hot and your

: ‘sparagus is lightly greased, lay
: the spears in the pan. Don’t fuss
: too much with the asparagus

: while it’s cooking. Again,

: youre trying to grill, not fry.

: Instead, gently roll the spears

: over after a few minutes. Your

: asparagus should be ready

: once it’s turned a beautiful

: bright green, but you can cook
: alittle longer past this fora

: more grilled look and flavour.

Plate your meal, and

: enjoy! For those of you who
: enjoya little drink with
: your meal, a white wine
pairs well with salmon.

 

Diary of a starter novelist

» Week One: Running through themes and roughing out an outline

Patrick Vaillancourt
Senior Columnist

Patrick Vaillancourt is a
political essayist, and is
seasoned in the arts of non-
fiction writing. His first book,
a memoir, is scheduled for

participating in National Novel
Writing Month, otherwise
known as NaNoWriMo, for the
first time.

Over the past several months,
I have been hard at work

book. It was relatively quick
once I committed to writing it
a few hours a day, every day of
the week. There is no greater
feeling of pride and self-
worth than completing such

: a rigorous piece of your own

: work. In my case, it has just

: encouraged me to accelerate

: my writing and take on a new
: project.

Thankfully, current events

in my writing life coincide with

: the month of November, when

publication later this year. He is ; many people from around the
: world participate in National

: Novel Writing Month, or

: NaNoWriMo. I am not sure

: why the event is still billedasa :

: “national” one, when, with over :

: 300,000 writers from dozens

: of countries around the world,

: this writing challenge is now

completing the draft of my first : evidently global in scope.

I’ve talked about writing

a book since I was in my late

; teens, and I am pleased to

: say that I have now done just
: that. It had never occurred to
: me though that I would take

: on writing a novel—a lengthy
: piece of fiction that requires

: a bit more imagination to

: complete. I am completely

: unfamiliar with this genre of

: writing, and NaNoWriMo may
: be a great resource to assist

: me, keeping me engaged and
: motivated to reach the 50,000
: words needed for my draft to

: be considered novel-length.

As we head into the

: beginning of November,

and the month-long writing

: marathon that will hopefully

; see me complete this objective,
: Tam working on a number of

: themes. I have written them
down on index cards and have
: shuffled the deck to see if I can
string together two or more of
: those themes. Knowing that

: with fiction I am clearly outside :
: of my writing element, I am

: trying to outline these themes
: into a workable framework for
: a novel. For the most part, Iam :
: taking little anecdotes from my :
: own life—interesting stories:
: that can be expanded with

: fictional characters and events, :
: tocreateanenticing theme. :
: It appears that, based on the
: anecdotes I’ve chosen, my

: novel will be a work of drama
: and failed romance. :
: Iam also taking advantage :
: of the resources available :
: online, particularly on the

: NaNoWriMo website, where
: authors have shared tips

: and tricks on creating the
scene, character and plot

:; development.

Clearly, I have much to

: learn over the next few weeks

as I proceed onward with

: this adventure. Though the

WORDS WRITTEN:
Oo

WORDS REMAINING:
50,000

DAYS LEFT TO
COMPLETE:

27
AVERAGE NUMBER
OF WORDS PER DAY

NEEDED:
1,852 words per day

: mantra for NaNoWriMo is to
: not be overly concerned with
: style, I hope to put together

: astory that is coherent and

: interesting, in addition to

; reaching my word count.