EpiCURIOUS Adventures: Asiago Baked Salmon

Okay, so we have already determined I cannot cook. At all. But yet, I am determined to make some delicious food! Luckily for me (and not so luckily for my wallet), a brand spankin' new Whole Foods just opened up by my house.  I already know this will be dangerous in the future. However, with its grand opening, I got what any girl could ever want! Coupons. I am a sucker for coupons. They save you tons (um, hello, extreme couponing). I don't care if they are possibly gimmicks. If I have a coupon, I will use it. It is like a law of nature or something. So, my Whole Foods coupon was pretty sweet. All I had to do was spend $30.00 and (drum roll, please) A FREE pound of Fresh Atlantic Salmon. See, I told you it was sweet! It is really, Really easy to spend $30 at Whole Foods. Mm..Salmon. So flavorful and fresh, almost decadent. And, it makes you feel a bit fancy when you eat it.

So, of course I HAVE to make some salmon. I carefully think this meal out. What can I make with Salmon? What will be easy enough for me to pull off as my first real meal to make from scratch? Salmon is normally expensive ($14.99 without the coupon), therefore that means it must be difficult to prepare, right? Wrong. Again, I went to How Sweet It Is and did a quick search for Salmon. And I found a recipe for this Asiago Salmon! It didn't seem too hard...I had absolutely no Idea what a Shallot was, but other than that I was in pretty good shape. 

So after my cooking-inspiring trip to Whole Foods I came home and stared at the Salmon for a little while. You see, Jessica's recipe doesn't say anything about preparing the fish. This fish still had it scales! What was I going to do? I couldn't serve my friends who were coming over very shortly scales! Sick Out! (All of you who frequently prepare Salmon can go ahead and have a good laugh right about now) So in a complete panic I google preparing Salmon. I am yelling down to my roommates for help with no avail. What in the world am I going to do?? After about 3 or 4 websites, I finally realize, you cook the salmon with the scales.  Once its cooked the scales/skin easily comes off. Boy, did I feel relieved, and slightly silly for panicking. 

I had about 3 minutes until my friends came over for dinner. I quickly combined the ingredients together. 

(Those purple things are the Shallots. Apparently they are a type of baby/miniature onion)

Then after they were all mixed together, I went ahead and added it on top of the fish.

Baked it for a little while, and next thing I knew, I was a Master Salmon Baker! I definitely deserved a Gold Star for the success that is this dish. It was so incredibly easy. Even I could do it without a single hitch (I am choosing to ignore my minor panic attack in preparing the Salmon). 

Wow. It was so mouth-watering good, too! I couldn't believe I actually made it! Mixed with some garlic asparagus and berries, perfect summer meal.  My friends loved it! I wasn't really done by the time they got to my house, but I'm so glad I had them there to share my first feat. One down, 99 to go. Top Chef, here I come!

Recipe is Here.