Winter treat: Salmon & grilled potatoes

It's been so frozen cold the past few weeks in Wichita. So when it hit the high 50s yesterday, it felt like summer. After a day spent playing outside with the pup, we grilled salmon, potatoes and veggies for dinner, as if it were August.

I've blogged before about grilling tiny potatoes on skewers. Yesterday I cut red potatoes into medium-size chunks, skewered those and brushed with a generous dose of olive oil. Dave grilled these for about 40 minutes. They were great-- crispy on the outside, cooked to perfection inside. We grilled our salmon fillets in foil, after I rubbed them with excellent seafood rub that was a Christmas present from my sister (dubbed "Rub With Love," it's marketed by Seattle restaurateur Tom Douglas of Dahlia Lounge fame. Molly sent me a whole set, including rubs for steak, pork, chicken and crab cake mix. Very good stuff, available at Tom Douglas' Web site.)

I know I haven't been blogging much lately. My evenings have been too booked to do much cooking. Last weekend, however, I did make chili in the Crockpot with a pound of browned hot sausage, dry red beans that had been soaked overnight, a small can of green chilis, a big sweet onion, 2 cloves garlic and 3 tablespoons chili powder and three 15-ounce cans diced tomatoes. I cooked this on high for about 6 hours, then threw in a cup of frozen corn and heated 'til the corn was cooked. This is the time of year when I love throwing basic soup, stew or chili ingredients into the slow cooker. Makes for several days of nice suppers.