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Artichoke hearts, Asparagus, and Alternative Salmon

We started the year with something I had never willingly eaten before - artichoke hearts.  I didn't start eating vegetables until well into my 20's, and only encountered artichokes on gourmet pizza or in creamy dip.  Neither sold me on the concept of artichokes as a food.  But Mary convinced me to give it a whirl in a limited and innocuous way - chopped up in Mediterranean Couscous.

We took two standard boxes of couscous, and added a can of chopped artichoke hearts, some rehydrated sun-dried tomatoes, a fair amount of crumbled feta cheese, and possibly a splash of lemon?  Mary may have to correct me here.  Regardless, the end result was yummy and simple. (edit - added a link to the recipe above)

The asparagus was simply steamed and then lightly sprinkled with kosher salt.  I've liked asparagus ever since Mike and Karen's wedding in '94, so this wasn't really an adventurous dish for us.  Nor was it particularly difficult to make.

 Mary gives her "recipe" for this: Rinse and weigh asparagus.  Place in a covered bowl and steam in microwave (I used the "Cook Fresh Veg" setting which requires the weight.)

The alternative salmon was essentially a stuffing-like crust packed on top of two large salmon fillets, which were then broiled in the oven.  Mary was originally going to use some all-purpose spice for the crust, but noticed that it was about a year past its best-by date, and looked more like dust than spice.  So we chunked it, and she improvised.  From my recollection, the crust was bread crumbs (pancho?), onions, garlic, oregano, basil, black pepper, and miracle whip.  I know, that last ingredient seems wrong somehow.  But the tang of the 'whip combined with the fresh spices - very nice.

I'll see about adding an inline picture here soon, and perhaps links to the recipes I just added the links to the recipes.