A very quick meal preparation for one person. (Would be happy to fix this for R but he does not eat salmon unless it is in the form of salmon patties.)

Set toaster oven to preheat to 350 degrees.

While it's preheating, cover the cookie sheet with aluminum foil and place on it a single salmon filet, skin side down.

Brush top with olive oil. I brush with a tablespoon - pour the oil in the spoon and rub the spoon over the filet so that the oil sloshes over the side and the spoon smooths it over the fish.

Sprinkle with lemon pepper.

Place the sheet in the toaster oven and set to 15 min.

***

While the fish is cooking, add between 1/3 and 1/2 cup seasoned wild and long grain rice mix to a largish glass bowl.

Add about 3 times as much water. Stir.

Microwave on high, uncovered, about 10 minutes or until water is taken up. The bowl meeds to be big enough not to allow the water to froth over the sides. I use a medium-sized mixing bowl for this.

Remove from microwave and add pat of butter or margarine; stir with fork.

***

While the rice is cooking, prepare broccoli or carrots or squash for steaming by cutting into bite-size pieces and placing in a bowl with a bit of water.

After the rice comes out, place the bowl, covered, in the microwave and cook on high for about 5 minutes or so.

***

I am sometimes surprised to find the extent to which folk wisdom is borne out by science. Remember the old wives' tale that fish is brain food? Well, salmon, as we all know, is rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Why are they called omega? Fatty acids consist of a polar head (a carboxyl group, COOH) and a nonpolar hydrocarbon tail. To indicate the position on that tail where double bonds occur, or side groups or anything else, chemists count the first carbon on the head end as 1 and number them from there. Nutritionists start from the end of the tail instead. So an omega-3 fatty acid is a fatty acid that has a double bond between the carbons 3 and 4 from the tail end.

Here's a Wikipedia article about omega-3 fatty acids:

n−3 fatty acids are thought by some to have membrane-enhancing capabilities in brain cells. One medical explanation is that n−3 fatty acids play a role in the fortification of the myelin sheaths. It is no coincidence that n−3 fatty acids comprise approximately eight percent of the average human brain, according to Dr. David Horrobin, a pioneer in fatty acid research. Ralph Holman of the University of Minnesota, another major researcher studying essential fatty acids, who gave omega-3 its name, surmised how n−3 components are analogous to the human brain by stating that "DHA is structure; EPA is function."

Now how did the folks who generate folk wisdom know this?