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I learned how to cook in a professional kitchen and it's taken me years to recover.

My view of food was honed in the world of flame and blades and surly dishwashers - a competitive atmosphere where speed mattered just as much as my ability to impress the waitresses with a novel idea, and yet another empty beer bottle. Flavour at any cost became my mantra.

My mates and I would race each other to work and spend the day frantically chopping mountains of vegetables, elbow deep in a mound of fresh eels, blindly following the crazed chef's visions of culinary nirvana.

When you're in your invincible twenties it's all about you - especially if you wear a crisp white uniform and people actually pay to consume your ideas. You become convinced that the restaurant exists solely as your playground: "What do you mean you don't like cumin-scented crème brulée?"

Then the toughest food critic I've ever met moved in - he's now 5 and lives just down the hall. With my son's birth came an entirely new way of looking at food. Apparently the chef is not the centre of the universe and no one's impressed with my provocative flavour combinations any more. Quite the opposite. Did you know that a tarragon-scented, tempura-battered asparagus spear makes a great flying missile?

Fortunately, I'm a fast learner. The difference between mashed potatoes with tiny specks of freshly ground pepper and just plain mashed potatoes is now clear to me. Cooking for my family has taught me that simplicity is the name of the game. Flavour is still important, but familiarity trumps creativity. Brown rice and lentils? We had it last night and we'll have it again tomorrow if we have to.

Above all, the healthy side of my cooking now matters the most. Restaurant cream and butter have made way for omega-3-saturated flax oil and whole grains. I guess you could say my food has grown up - and maybe I have, too.

Here is one of our family favourites, a recipe that reflects my born-again chef status. It's tasty, full of healthy flavour, simple to prepare, infinitely variable and it only uses one pot

Pot-Steamed Salmon

WHAT YOU NEED

Serves two:

2 six-ounce salmon filets, skin removed

2 cups of orange juice

1 red onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tablespoons of great olive oil

2 tablespoons of capers

1/4 cup of raisins

1 tablespoon of minced fresh thyme

WHAT YOU DO

Pour the orange juice into a small pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add the onions, garlic, olive oil, capers and raisins. Bring the mixture to a vigorous simmer and reduce it for a few minutes, until it loses half its volume.

Reduce the heat to a slow simmer. Rest the salmon filets on top of the orange-juice mixture. Cover the pot with its lid. Steam the salmon for five minutes or so. When the filets are done, remove them from the pan. Stir the thyme into the orange mixture and ladle it over the steamed salmon.

Feel free to experiment with the basic idea. Try replacing the orange juice with tomato juice. The capers and raisins may become dried tomatoes, olives or artichokes. Thyme is a relatively neutral herb, but tarragon, rosemary, cilantro, basil and even mint all work well too.

For a special occasion or presentation flourish, you may divide this recipe in two, then simmer and serve each portion in a very small pot.

Michael Smith is the winner of the James Beard Award for Cooking Show Excellence and host of the Food Network's Chef at Home, Chef at Large and The Inn Chef. He is an award-winning cookbook author, roving Canadian cuisine ambassador, restaurant chef and home cook.

Beppi's wine matches

Though simple to cook, this dish delivers a complex spectrum of flavours, from sweet to pungent to herbal, suggesting a white wine with a hint of sweetness and enough acidity to match the zing from the juice, garlic and capers.

My first choice: off-dry riesling. Niagara offers some excellent choices, including Cave Spring Off-Dry Riesling (about $15), Henry of Pelham Off-Dry Riesling ($15) and Angels Gate Sussreserve Riesling ($14).

From B.C., there's the excellent Joie Riesling 2006 ($19.90).

Beppi Crosariol