Doing without (hardly)

There is a strange kind of pleasure in this limited kitchen - figuring out a way to make reasonably healthy, appetizing meals without all the amenities to which I'm accustomed. It's not feasible to have more than one thing in the oven at a time, and zesting means using a knife to remove lemon peel and then chopping it; I will be glad to return to a better-equipped state, but this is fun.

Anyway:

Part 1:

- Chop 3 cloves garlic

- Chop about a quarter of a Trader Joe's packet of flat-leafed parsley leaves

- Chop about half a lemon's worth of zest

- Mix together with about a quarter cup of olive oil and a couple spoonfuls of capers and some salt and pepper

- Slather onto some salmon (approx 4 deck-of-cards-size servings), let hang out in fridge for a bit

- Preheat oven to 450 and line a tray with tinfoil

Part 2:

- Cook about four servings of spaghetti until still slightly brittle at the centre, drain

- In the meantime, de-string about a pound of sugar snap peas

- Rinse and chop 3 leeks and 3... er... spring red onions, except almost cioppiono size and the rest of the lemon's zest

- Put salmon on foil-lined tray and throw in oven

- Melt a couple tbs of butter, add leeks and onions and zest, cook til soft and leeks are beginning to turn translucent

- Chop remainder of parsley

- Add a couple glugs of white wine, juice from the lemon, and lots of salt and pepper, stir vigourously, decrease heat

- Add spaghetti, stir

- Add parsley, stir

- Add snap peas, stir, cover for 5 minutes, then turn off heat and stir

- Check on salmon

- Turn off fire alarm, hope that neighbours are not too terribly aflame with rage

- Put some spaghetti onto a plate, use a cleaver (!) and iced-tea spoon (!) to transfer a portion of salmon (without skin, alas, which is sticking to the foil like the dickens) on top of the spaghetti, flake the salmon, mix and salt with enthusiasm, eat with white wine!

- For dessert, eat entirely too many Trader Joe's pseudo-Oreos.