Shellfish Night: Raw Oysters with Wild Salmon and Sprouted Salad
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Last night was Shellfish Night.
We try to eat shellfish or organ meats at least once a week because they are so chock-full of vitamins. Seriously, folks, they put veggies to shame.
It would take just over a quarter pound of beef per day to fulfill the minimum requirement for zinc, yet a single serving of oysters per week fulfills the same requirement. One would have to eat two servings of salmon per week to meet the minimum requirement for vitamin B12, but would only have to eat clams once per month to meet the same requirement. Source: Chris Masterjohn, Cholesterol & Health
We started with a plate of raw oysters. These are sustainably-raised oysters that I buy from a local producer at the farmer’s market. (Here’s a good article on which fish are raised sustainably and good to eat, and which you should not eat.)
Kate and I always eat fresh raw oysters while we are shopping on Saturday mornings at the Santa Monica farmer’s market. She wasn’t so sure about them at first but now she loves them! Literally grabs them out of my hands. She ate two yesterday morning for breakfast at the market.
I am thrilled that she loves oysters. I could care less if she eats vegetables — as long as she eats plenty of shellfish and butter. 
For the second course, we had a salad.
Sunflower sprouts, lentil sprouts, tomato, red pepper, red onions, and feta cheese with homemade vinaigrette.
If you are not making your own salad dressing, you really need to, people. It literally takes 5 seconds.
And trust me, every salad dressing for sale at the store is not only bad for you (two words: soybean oil) but it’s also ridiculously overpriced.
When I’m in a hurry, I just put a little olive oil in a bowl or Pyrex measuring cup and whisk in a little Balsamic or red wine vinegar until it tastes good. Season with sea salt and fresh black pepper. Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.
Third course: Wild salmon. Broiled in the oven, three minutes on each side, finished with a dab of butter.
I got the salmon from Costco. Yes, real wild salmon (not farmed). For only $2.45/pound. Cheaper than grass-fed hamburger! Considering how much Seth loves salmon, it’s worth it to have a membership at Costco for this reason alone.
With the salmon, I served basmati rice. I cooked the rice in homemade chicken stock. I really recommend doing this every time you make rice or beans. It is so much tastier and more flavorful, and it is also much more nutritious.
It’s easy to do. Just add a cup of dry Basmati rice to your rice cooker. Rinse with filtered water, swirling around with your hand until the water is no longer cloudy. Then drain and add 6 ounces of chicken stock.
I freeze my chicken stock in ice cube trays. Each cube is one ounce. So you just throw in 6 cubes. It takes 5 minutes to make this rice (plus the time it took to make the homemade stock, but who’s counting?).
My Zojirushi rice cooker is one of my absolute favorite kitchen appliances. It plays a happy little song when you set it to cook, and again when it’s done making the rice.
Serve the rice with a little butter (or a lot), and some sea salt.
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26/10/2008 at 5:44 pm Permalink
Thanks for the heads-up about salmon at Costco. And I catch the bus to work in their parking lot – how convenient is that!
I love your stories about Kate.
27/10/2008 at 3:29 pm Permalink
Thanks, Betsy!
Yes, there are only about 10 things I buy at Costco:
1. Wild seafood
2. Kerrygold cheese from Ireland
3. Parmesan cheese from Italy
4. Baking soda
5. Vinegar
6. Toilet paper
7. Paper towels
8. Books/DVDs
9. Clothes
10. Eco-friendly dishwashing liquid
I think they have good prices on vodka too, which, even if you don’t drink it, is good to have on hand for making herbal tinctures and homemade vanilla extract.
And you can add a coupla teaspoons of vodka to your homemade ice cream to keep it soft in the freezer.
Sometimes I do like to have a martini. Especially with blue-cheese stuffed olives from Adam’s Ranch (not available at Costco).
27/10/2008 at 8:15 pm Permalink
Ann Marie,
What is your recipe for chicken stock? Your cubes are such a gorgeous golden color. Mine are much paler but I did not use many carrots in my latest batch, I wonder if that is the difference. I’d love to know your secret.
Thanks!
28/10/2008 at 10:35 am Permalink
I just follow the recipe in Nourishing Traditions (it is also on the WAPF website).
Do you roast your chicken first? That is what I do — which might account for the color. Also sometimes my chicken stock has some duck bones in it too since I roast duck so often.
It may also be all the feet and necks I use.
I usually use a combo of chicken necks, chicken feet (unroasted) and then roasted bones from chickens and ducks.
I use carrots, celery and onion.
28/10/2008 at 2:51 pm Permalink
Thanks Ann Marie,
I don’t roast my chicken first so that might be it. Other than that I follow the NT recipe too. Does your broth get gelatinous? Mine has not, last time I used necks and backs from a local farm, I need to try feet, I think…
29/10/2008 at 2:59 pm Permalink
Ann Marie,
Does Costco add dye to the wild salmon? I know they add dye to the farm raised…Does it come fresh or frozen?
29/10/2008 at 4:01 pm Permalink
How do you know if they add dye? How would I know?
It comes fresh — but I’m sure it was frozen before. I think it’s often better to buy frozen.
29/10/2008 at 4:02 pm Permalink
Sorry I didn’t mean that to sound like I was questioning or doubting you — what I was trying to ask was, how do you find out if they do?
30/10/2008 at 1:39 pm Permalink
Its usually listed in the ingredients or somewhere on the packaging that color has been added. I can’t remember exactly what the verbage is. Even WF adds dye to their wild salmon. They say its a natural dye, but that kind of sounds suspicious. It says on the sign, in small print.
30/10/2008 at 1:47 pm Permalink
Hmmm I will look the next time I buy it.
It was not a package per se — just a styrofoam tray wrapped in plastic.
06/08/2009 at 4:58 pm Permalink
Hi Anne Marie,
I was just wondering if you serve any sauce or condiments with your raw oysters? And I live in New Haven, CT on the Atlantic…do you know anything about oysters on this side of the states?
Thanks,
Melanie
26/06/2010 at 7:19 am Permalink
Love your web site- I cook almost every meal I eat. I like the Zen of it but still have lots to learn about cooking- thanks for the instruction.
Question: I don’t know what to trust anymore when it comes to Salmon. From my understanding some farm raised Salmon are released at the end and quickly got on a line and are classified as wild caught. Seems like a third classification of fish is needed as I think is so bogus. Comments?
26/06/2010 at 7:37 am Permalink
Farmed Salmon has very little color- perhaps to poor diet and doesn’t look good to buy. Wild Caught ( if truly wild caught) should have a deep rich natural color. I really think our food supply on this planet has been severely compromised- and don’t get me started on Monsanto.