haricots verts au saumon, peasant style

it was snowing yesterday! biking in that weather sucks to say the very least, but it could have been worse. once we got back home the dane took a nap. he's been pretty drained all week since he's been working basically 8-10 hours at the studio every day and sometimes he doesn't eat anything until he gets back. i wanted to make a nice dinner that night with lots of protein since we haven't been eating that much meat lately and he doesn't seem to like beans. a trip to fakta revealed that a pair of salmon filets was on sale and i grabbed a cheap bottle of white wine to go with it. it's a new thing for me that american wines are hard to come by. in copenhagen i've only seen some mondavis and gallos, which are often sold in wineboxes. however, great european wines can be had for a cheaper price than in the states. same goes for cheese. lucky me!

after the salmon was thawed, i tossed it with some olive oil, lemon juice, and a good amount of s&p. while it was sitting in its juices, i washed the last of our wild rice and threw it in the rice cooker with a bit of vegetable bouillon mixed into the water. did i mention how much i love having a rice cooker in denmark? (;

the filets went into the pan and i cooked it at medium high until it started sizzling for a couple minutes. then i turned the heat down to medium and covered the pan for the last few minutes. they slid out onto a plate and i deglazed the pan with a splash of white wine. a couple cloves of minced garlic were browned in it and then i tossed in some green beans that i'd thawed and blanched. after a couple minutes they were nice and hot and joined their salmon friends on the plate. click! the rice was done just in time. that doesn't happen too often. i remember my mom's zojirushi had a digital display that let you know how many more minutes you had to wait for the rice to finish. and afterward, how many hours it was kept warm. just so you know how much energy was being wasted. :D

the dane was pleasantly surprised that a nice meal appeared quickly, using so few kroner. he took a dollop of wild rice and a spoonful of greens while i took the better part of the beans for myself and skipped the rice. we enjoyed the rest of the wine and shared a pomelo for dessert.

10kr - 200g frozen salmon
39kr - a bottle of italian pinot grigio
5kr - 200g frozen organic green beans (less than half of a 500g bag that was 15kr)
2kr - 1 small cup of dry wild rice (last of a bag that cost about 20kr)
15kr - pomelo

what's that, 71kr to feed (and water) two hungry adults. and a pretty healthy alternative to king of kebab's pizzas downstairs. even in copenhagen, it can be done!