Salmon en Papillote

My husband loves salmon, ordering it wherever we go.  Usually when I taste his I'm not fond of it,  which of course begs the question from Harold, "Then why do you have to taste it?"

With the rare exception of extremely fine dining, I find it too "fishy" tasting.  Not a very sophisticated assessment, but that's what immediately comes to my mind.

Dining alone one afternoon at Payard's Bistro in Ceasar's Palace, the waiter talked me into the lunch special.  I didn't really understand the name, but he described how the salmon would be cooked by the steam inside the tent of parchment paper with dainty carrots, tiny little potatoes, fresh herbs, lemon and white wine.  It sounded tempting.  Thinking I knew better and was making a mistake, I proceeded to order it.

Fifteen minutes later, there in front of me was a large soup bowl filled with a light brown pouch.  The waiter cut open the pouch, successfully avoiding burning either one of us, and it began. The aroma wafting up from the medley, the steaminess, the vividly bright miniature vegetables, the sprigs of herbs perfectly infused into everything, the savory somehow sweet and yet not at all sweet wined broth whose bubbling had steamed this creation, and finally, the delicate, smooth --almost velvety, but lighter-- flavor filled salmon melting in my mouth...that's the salmon I fell for.

I no longer taste Harold's salmon dinners when we dine out.  There's no point.  Nothing comes close to the salmon experience at Payard's that day.

For a long time after, I couldn't remember the name of the dish.  Then one day in French class a year later we were learning how to order in restaurants when I asked the teacher, "Leticia, what is the French salmon dish which is cooked in parchment..." 

Before I finished the sentence she smiled and said, "Salmon en Papillote!"

Since then I've googled many a recipe for it, and tried quite a few. 
Each one, in it's own way, was simple yet grand in taste. 

Tonight's was no exception.

Salmon en Papillote for Dinner

Breakfast, Lunch and Snacks

Monday January 23rd

Meals
Breakfast:  Total Cereal, skim milk, Blueberries and Strawberries
Snack:       1 fat-free, gluten-free, sugar-free, sprouted grain Tortilla with Kale, Onion, Garlic,
                 Tomato, Red Pepper, beans and a little fat-free plain Greek Yogurt
Lunch:      1/3 c. Tuna Salad, 1/3 c. Egg Salad, 1/2 whole grain "Thin"
Snack:      1 Apple & 1 Kiwi
Dinner:    "Salmon en Papillote"--Salmon, vegetables & herbs cooked in parchment paper

Workouts
1 hr. personal training session--all cardio
Group Core Class