Roast Salmon with Perfect Pesto {Powernap}

What’s Going on Today: Babysitter arrives for daughter in the morning, I am off to appointments, lunch with friend, then home to take daughter to playdate after naptime.
Naptime Goals: I’ll be out to lunch! (Hope my daughter behaves for the sitter – it is so rare that I have one during the daytime!)
Tonight’s Menu: Roast Salmon with Perfect Pesto, green salad with pine nuts and gorgonzola, Rice with Toasted Almonds.
Parenting Lesson of the Day: Babysitters serve to remind us that sometimes we need a break from our kids, and sometimes the kids need a break from us!

Do you ever have one of those weeks when everything happens at the same time? Like, one week you have all the free time in the world to frolic in the park, and the next you barely have time to throw on some chapstick before running out the door? Well, I am having one of those weeks. I’m not quite sure how I managed to schedule things this way, but when I opened my planner yesterday I was slightly dismayed to discover that it was chock full of appointments and events. To some that may sound all very well and glamorous, me flitting around Manhattan in taxi cabs and high heels but, trust me, it’s not.

So, what to do about dinner? Easy. For one of my meetings I will be near my favorite fish store in our neighborhood, so on the way home I’ll stop by and pick up some fresh wildcaught salmon. I still have some Perfect Pesto in the freezer and it will make for a great main course, paired with some rice and a salad.

It is rare that we have a babysitter during the day, I usually choose to splurge in the evening when my husband and I are in the mood (re: desperate) for date night. But today I have no choice. This, of course, means that I won’t have time to Naptime Chef today. Instead I’ll turn to one of my favorite family meals that I can assemble on the fly, Roast Salmon with Pesto. As far as I can tell, there is hardly a better way to enjoy pesto. Yes, I love it roasted with creme fraiche as well, but this way is a tad tastier, I think. The garlic herb flavor of the spread contrasts beautifully with the fresh salmon, while the oil from the pesto prevents the fish from drying out in the oven.

So, after a day out and about this is what we will be enjoying, I am happy to report. And, yes, some of the other dishes like this or this are fantastic when there isn’t much time for dinner either. The good news for you all, however, is that one of the many to-do’s on my agenda is to working on my next Webisode for Thursday. In it I’ll be baking with my Dad, a fellow home-baker who loves the kitchen as much as I do, and it is definitely not to be missed!