A Very Rewarding Experience

Breakfast. Work. Pick up kids. Dinner. Help with homework or projects. Sleep. Repeat.

Everyday was mostly the same...

So it wasn't surprising that Lisa didn't feel like doing chores and cooking dinner sometimes. Yet, being the person responsible for feeding her family, she couldn't just leave it.

Today was one of those days when she felt like she didn't want to cook. Her career as a self-employed estate agent was demanding enough already. Then she had to cook when she got home after picking up the kids. Being health-conscious, she and her husband avoided eating out. Restaurant meals were occasional. They wanted to raise their kids healthily too.

It's not that she didn't enjoy cooking. She loved it. To her, cooking was a way to unwind. It helped her relax and stay grounded. She was great at it too. Everyone enjoyed her meals. When it came to food, her biggest challenge was how to satisfy her family. Each of them had their own ideas about food and what they'd eat. Her husband was a wonderful man but also a very picky eater. Being the mother of an 8-year-old-boy and 13- year-old-girl wasn't easy either. Everyone didn't like the same thing.

To manage that troublesome situation, she had to choose meals with ingredients that everyone would eat. In a way, it limited her food choices. It wasn't really a bad thing, except for the fact that dinner was not exciting anymore. There would always be someone who said, " Oh, we had this a few days ago."

Or "It's the same thing again." Groans and unpleasant mumbling usually accompanied the complaints.

As a passionate cook, she felt bored making the same meals frequently. Being a fun, adventurous woman, Lisa liked challenging herself to do better. It would be a dream come true if I can prepare a new dish, she thought.

Her train of thoughts made up her mind for her. That's what she would do this day. Taking a quick glance at the wall clock in the living room, she realized that dinner time was near. Fortunately she still had enough time to cook before her husband came home. She wanted to make something different than the 'regular cuisine' - as she called it. She searched on the internet for ideas.

Thinking about the type of food she wanted to cook, she decided that it would be Greek food. She loved it but never tried much of it before. The only Greek dish she'd ever tasted and made was Greek salad. It was her favorite type of salad.

After narrowing her search she looked through recipes of Greek foods. The photos of the various Greek dishes was enticing. Perfectly cooked, tender and juicy, well-browned meat. Delicious-looking pork slices. Delicate fish. Colourful vegetables which also made the food look so healthy and appetizing. Soft and delicious Greek cheeses which made her want to take a bite into them right at that moment.

It was interesting to note that Greek food was mostly flavoured lightly with herbs and spices and lemon too. The photos popped out at her and she could almost taste each dish as she looked through them. The more she saw, the more excited she became. It was a heavenly feeling and she couldn't wait to cook one of them. All those food pictures made her feel hungry too.

This went on for a while until she found something ideal. Given my limited time, it would be perfect! She thought happily. The dish she chose was a Greek salmon. It looked delicious and she was eager to try it out. Fortunately she had everything already. No need to go grocery shopping. She brought out all that she needed and started preparing.

Lisa felt more relaxed and in a better mood than she had been in a while. Following the recipe carefully she started with the vegetables. She cut baby tomatoes into halves. They were as red as cherries and looked very cute and appetizing. Then she chopped fresh green cucumbers were. Washing both, she set them aside. Next she chopped red onions which were as deep red as plums. She crushed garlic. Crushed garlic gave off a smell that made her wrinkle her nose a little but it flavoured meat, poultry and fish beautifully. Then she sliced the olives, chopped feta cheese and dill. Finally she extracted the juice from lemons and got the spices ready.

At this point she noticed that she didn't have an ingredient that she needed. She frowned slightly, clearly not pleased by this. Ugh... I don't have red pepper flakes. Not letting it bother her too much she finely chopped some red pepper and used that instead. She wasn't a person who followed recipes strictly anyway. It's fun and interesting to substitute ingredients or create my own combinations and flavours too if I don't have all the ingredients. It was fine as long as all the flavours blended together pleasantly for a delicious meal.

Creativity and experimenting was an exciting thing in cooking. Since she had a natural talent in this activity, she didn't experience too many problems with experimenting or substituting ingredients from her own ideas. Failure never stopped her either. When it happened, she learned from it and improved.

After getting the spices ready, she focussed on the fish. It looked beautiful and fresh. The flesh of the salmon was moist and didn't have any unpleasant smell. It was as smooth and glossy as a piece of silk cloth. She was delighted with it. She patted it with paper towels and set it aside too. Then she finished the last few steps of slicing lemon and red onion.

She enjoyed preparing the ingredients. It didn't take her very long to do those tasks. Probably about 20-25 minutes, she thought. Now she was ready to cook. 

The steps for cooking were easy and simple too. She combined the feta cheese with olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and red pepper and left it for a while. Then it was time to bake the fish. She added lemon slices and red onion to her oven dish and placed the fish on top of those. After seasoning with salt and black pepper, she placed it in the oven to cook. While waiting for the fish to be done, she made the Greek salad. This would be the topping for the whole meal.

As the fish was being cooked, a delicious aroma filled the kitchen and the house. It attracted the attention of her kids. They were curious and went to see. The smell made them feel very hungry.

One of them asked, "What are you cooking, mom? I smell fish." He took a deep breath and was delighted. "Can't wait until it's ready!" 

Her daughter was equally excited and said, "It smells delicious! I'm hungry!" 

Lisa laughed softly at their reactions. "It will be ready soon, kids. Go wash up and let's wait for your dad to come."

The kids did as they were told. After a while the food was ready and Lisa's husband came home from work.

The family enjoyed a delicious meal together. Lisa arranged the salmon on plates with the red onion and lemon slices and used the salad as a topping over the fish. To complete the meal she served rice as a side dish. It was a refreshing change from the usual dinners they used to have. All enjoyed the meal and the kids removed the olives from their plates because they didn't like them.

Lisa was happy that dinner turned out great. She enjoyed every moment of preparing the meal. It was a wonderful experience and turned a normal day into a pleasant one. She knew that from now on she would try new dishes a little more often.