Canyon View

She stood with her toes at the edge of the pool. The skin of her feet was soft and her shiny red toes cast a glare from the midday sun. She transferred the weight off her left foot and onto the right foot. Her back was straight and strong. Her lightly bronzed skin served as the perfect canvas for her lime green bikini. Her unruly hair fell on her shoulders, if it fell at all. She slowly looked left and right, surveying the swimmers, her mouth was open just enough to reveal her ivory teeth, the freckles on her face served as testament to her sun-devotion. Her dark eyes squinted out the sun making her plump cheeks crumple under her dark eyes. Her nose twitched as she inhaled deeply through her unsymmetrical nostrils, as she did so her rib cage expanded, causing the bear claw tattoo to peak out from under the buckle of her bikini top, in between her breasts. As her lungs reached their capacity, she bent her knees, while simultaneously raising her arms over her head and dove into the water - her fingertips penetrating the glass-like water of the pool. The rest of her body followed, entering the water in the same location that her hands had marked as target. Her curls flattened out from the rush of water around her head.. Her head emerged at the other end of the pool, like the otters she watched on the river. She was at peace here, in the water, nobody to talk to and nobody watching her. Unlike the otters she observed, who, upon poking their head out of the water every which way with jerky motions, she was not curious here, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. She allowed her arms to float up next to her and she let out a soft exhalation.

What is Salad?

People often poke fun of their friends for ordering or having "just a salad" when eating together. However, I have noticed this trend is going out of style with the greater awareness of health and nutrition in our society. Anyhow, salads exist all over the world, in every culture, salad is just a mixture of vegetables and fruit, legumes, nuts, stale bread or upgraded fried bread, some herbs for seasoning and a little oil, sour cream, vinegar, mustard, even cheese, meat, eggs, I guess I've named a food from every food group, so why can't a salad suffice for a meal?

One of my favorite salads of all times is quite simple:

Cucumber Salad

2 small cucumbers (Mediterranean or Persian cucumbers)

1 tomato (any variety, this is roma)

5-6 kalamata olives

feta cheese, cut up in 1/2 inch cubes

olive oil

juice of one lemon

salt

Slice cucumbers and dice tomatoes, toss with cheese, olives, lemon juice, oil and salt.

Enjoy

Dimples

"Is that all oil?!" This man's eyes were twice their normal size now as he pointed into the tupperware of his colleague who did not seem to mind that his friend was mortified by the amount of "oil" there was in front of him.

"Yaaaaaaaa-p" He drew out as he inserted the plastic fork into his mouth, his lips hugging the fork slightly before it slid out of his mouth with graceful ease. Being coated in oil, it would slip right out along the flesh of his lips. He responded with a grin on his face. He held his plastic fork in his right hand and plastic knife in the left. Unusual.

"What is that?" The first man asked, he sounded almost irritated that his colleague was not phased by his disgust of his appeared oil consumption.

"Fish" he responded. He had now strategically placed a piece of white fish meat on the fork and was allowing the fork to lay in the pool of olive oil. He had tilted the tupperware slightly and repositioned the fork, to ensure maximal oil coverage. He returned the tupperware flat on the table and lifted the fork to chest height, keeping it over the tupperware, he then proceeded to clean the knife off onto the fork for any remaining fish remnants, in a back and forth, knife sharpening motion. The fork was then brought up the full height to his face, his whole body leaned forward and consumed the masterpiece that had assembled on the fork.

The man could tell he was not going to get a reaction out of his Italian colleague, so, disappointed, he moved on. "Are we going camping this weekend?"

"Ya, sounds good to me" the Italian had a slight accent which was heard when he spoke the word 'sound' it sounded as though he said sou-, like sour without the r and the sharp -nd. He jiggled his legs back and forth from the knees with glee, it was not a nervous movement, rather a juvenile expression of happiness. He wore brown leather slip ons that reminded me of my father and exposed his grey socks, his cargo khakis looked a size too big for his thin body and his turquoise sweater lit him up like the enigma he was. When he smiled, his whole face smiled. The creases extended out from his mouth like thunder bolts, in every which direction. His smile was captivating and I found my self awe-struck just staring.

Dijon Mustarded Salmon

I made that recipe name up and to be completely honest, I just threw some things together one day.

My brother lives in the same city as I. He was going out of town for Easter and had bought a pound of salmon, and had it marinating in olive oil and lemon juice for a few days. He called me, not knowing what to do with the fish, insisting I take it. We were raised with the mentality that you never ever waste food. Even when bread got stale, we'd throw it out for the birds or feed the ducks. When trips approached, my mom would make dishes that involved the produce remaining in the fridge so nothing would go bad when we left, she would also stop grocery shopping to ensure nothing would go bad.

I thought everybody was raised this way but found, much to my horror, that they were not. I discovered this upon my moving to college.

Anyhow, on his drive north, my brother dropped off the salmon so that I would get use out of it.

Dijon Mustarded Salmon

salmon

soy sauce

olive oil

spicy dijon mustard

garlic

(Note, I do not list measurements as I do not really measure things, I like my food spicy so I probably use more mustard and garlic than would another person, so I say, eye ball it, taste it, and it'll be fine. This is probably terrifying to first time cooks, but I'm presuming most people are not first time cooks)

Preheat oven to 350˚F.

Mix the soy sauce, olive oil, mustard and pressed garlic in a bowl.

Place salmon on a piece of aluminum foil at least 3 times longer than the piece of salmon itself. Completely coat with mustard mixture. Fold up the edges of the foil and pinch over to create a sort of pyramid encasing the salmon, this ensures the salmon doesn't dry out upon cooking.

Place in oven and bake for about 30 minutes, depending on the size of your fish.

It can be served along side potatoes, and roasted vegetables, or rice and vegetables, or I had it atop a big bowl of mixed greens.