It’s 2024, which means I’ve finally run out of excuses.

For the month of December, I could just say we were celebrating the holidays. Before that, it was Thanksgiving and before that, it was Halloween. And before that it was October, and the sun was going down before 5 p.m. anyway. Who has energy to cook when it’s dark outside?

Essentially, I spent the past three months cooking and eating things based on my low energy and high desire to hibernate. And boy, were they delicious. I love foods filled with butter and fat and carbohydrates.

But with the new year starting up, one of my resolutions is to cook more healthy meals for my husband and I to enjoy. Not to only cook healthy meals, mind you, just more of them. I want us to have a wider variety of options. Repeatable options. Convenient options.

After all, New Year’s resolutions aren’t really about willpower (cue people who have more willpower than me complaining about how I’m wrong). Really, resolutions are about tricking your brain.

I’m 100% serious about this. Every year, around the beginning of January, I listen to lofty goal after lofty goal from my friends and family members. And every year, I ask myself, “how are any of us going to pull this off?” Most of those goals fall apart within three weeks.

Every lifestyle change I have ever actually achieved has come from tricking my brain. Basically, classically conditioning myself until it just seems natural to do the “good” thing, and making the “bad” thing more inconvenient. And putting that on repeat until it sticks.

So, this week, my goal was to find a healthy food that is way easier to cook than any unhealthy foods I make. I wanted to find a recipe so undeniably easy that it would be ridiculous to make something greasier when the healthier option is right there.

That’s when I found this Pesto Salmon recipe from Eating Well. Careful readers will know that salmon is one of my favorite proteins (I prefer it over red meat, even), which means I am highly likely to reach for a salmon recipe over a recipe with chicken or steak in it. This recipe is also not time consuming and requires minimal work.

I did adapt the recipe a bit, based on ingredients I could find at my local grocery store, to make the resolution even easier to stick to. Instead of shallots, I used a yellow onion, and instead of multicolored cherry tomatoes, I just went with regular cherry tomatoes.

After that, I really just needed a large piece of salmon and a jar of pesto to create what my husband called the best thing I’ve ever made.

It was truly delicious. I mean, 12 minutes in the oven, and the fish was butterier than butter, with bright fresh notes from the tomatoes and basil. It was really fantastic. Plus, it made for great leftovers, as it was easy to serve with a bit of pasta later on in the week.

It got me excited to experiment with new recipes again in the new year. I’m excited to branch out more in terms of flavor combinations. I’m even excited to try different ingredients that I don’t usually reach for.

For now, baby steps. Convenient, repeatable recipes need to come first, if I have any hopes of sticking to my resolution. If you have any recommendations, let me know. I’d love to try and share new healthy recipes.

But if three weeks from now, you see me baking cookies in the paper again, keep it to yourself. We’re all allowed a baby step backward, every now and then.

PESTO SALMON

Ingredients
4 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 yellow onion, thinly diced
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 (5 ounce) skin-on salmon filets
6 tablespoons refrigerated basil pesto
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

Directions
■ Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Coat a large rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. Combine tomatoes, onion, oil and salt in a large bowl; stir until well coated.
■ Place salmon filets, skin-side down, on the prepared baking sheet. Spread 1 1/2 tablespoons pesto on top of each filet. Scatter the tomato mixture evenly around the salmon. Bake until the tomatoes have started to soften and burst and the salmon is just cooked through, 12 to 14 minutes. Arrange the salmon and the tomato mixture on 4 plates. Top evenly with Parmesan and pine nuts.

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