I made salmon for the first time ever

[Big Bad Kitty]

All right girls, I gotta share. I've known forever that salmon is healthy for you, and yesterday I bought a piece for me. Today I made it for lunch. I looked up a recipe online, and I found one for pecan crusted salmon. I did not have all the ingredients, so I winged it. It was fantastic. Allow me to share.

1 - 5 oz piece salmon
about 2 or 3 oz pasta
asparagus (I made it as a side because it was in the house)
salt and pepper (meh, you need them a few times)
cayenne pepper (total about 1/2 tsp, more if you like a kick)
1 clove garlic
olive oil (again, you need it a few times)
balsamic vinegar (for the asparagus)
healthy handful of pecans
1 small pat of butter
2Tbsp grated Parmesan
1tsp honey

Heat oven to 450*. Snap the woody ends off the asparagus, put them in an oven proof pan (I made 4 spears). drizzle with balsamic vinegar and a weeeee bit of olive oil, salt & pepper. Set aside.

In another bowl, crush the pecans. Now into a powder, but small bits. Add chopped garlic (you may want less than a clove), salt / pepper / cayenne to taste, and just enough olive oil to bind it. Stir together and then drop in just a bit of honey. I put in less than a tsp, just to balance out the heat and garlic.

When the oven is ready, I put in the asparagus, and I boiled some water. As soon as the water boiled, I put in the pasta and heated a small skillet. I took the salmon and dipped the flesh side into the pecan mixture. Drizzle a bit of olive oil into the skillet, then put the salmon in skin side down. Adjust heat and let it cook halfway through, about 4 minutes.

THEN, pop that into the oven. In a couple minutes your pasta should be done. Drain it and reserve about 1/4c of the water. Return the pasta to the pot and add the water back. Then take the remainder of the pecan mixture and add it to the pasta (TRUST ME).

Put in one small dab of butter and the parmesan, stir, let sit a minute.

Take out the fish and asparagus.

Plate your pasta, serve fish on top, spears next to it.




This took about 15 minutes to make. Like I said I made it on the fly, and it could stand to be tweaked. Next time I would toast the pecans first. But OMG it was good. And rather healthy!

[trinityroyal]

WTG, BBK. That sounds delicious.
Salmon is my favourite fish, because it's so much less...well...fishy than the others.

I am adding that recipe to my collection. Yummy!

Trinity

[LittleDudesMom]

Sounds great BBK!! I absolutely love salmon and have it usually twice a week! I grill it, I bake it, I saute it, and I micro it! If you enjoyed the salmon, try swordfish and fresh tuna steaks too - I bet you will enjoy them as well.

Here's a super easy and fast way to do salmon - this is 3 minutes prep and 5 minutes to cook - no kidding - pop 2 salmon filets in a baggie and add lemon juice, dill, fresh garlic, and fresh ginger and put in the fridge for a few hours. (I peel about two bulbs of garlic on sat and put the clean cloves in a jar in the fridge with a tad bit of olive oil so I have fresh garlic all week and the ginger takes a minute to peel and chunky chop.)

Five minutes before you eat, take the salmon filets with all the stuff in the baggie and put them in a glass baking dish, add 1/4 t of light butter on top of each filet, cover tightly wtih plastic wrap, and microware on high for 5 mintues. Plate up and pour remaining juices (and any garlic and ginger) over the salmon. Extremely moist, flaky and delicious!!! Done!

Sharon

(Side note - if you love salmon like I do, check out the large pieces of salmon at Costco - it's almost 1/2 the price of the grocery price and you can get between 6-7 servings per piece - just slice into serving sizes and freeze)

[trinityroyal]

Sharon, I am a big fan of the Costco salmon too. Such a good bargain. I haven't found a better price anywhere.

The last time I made salmon, I took one of those giant Costco salmon slabs, a sheet of aluminium foil just big enough to fit under the fish. Put the whole shebang on the barbecue and cooked on medium-low for 10 min (the foil keeps the fish from falling between the grill slats) . Brushed lightly with olive oil and thai chili sauce. Served with rice, and a salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

[LittleDudesMom]

Trinity,

I love salmon on the grill!! I'm going to try it with the thai chili sauce - it wasn't too strong for the salmon?

Sharon

[Big Bad Kitty]

LDM

that sounds heavenly. I do love tuna steaks, never tried swordfish yet.

Expanding my horizons though!

[trinityroyal]

LDM, I used only the lightest brushing of the thai chili sauce (also bought at Costco). Sometimes I mix the thai chili with a dab of teriyaki, if I'm cooking for people who don't like too much hot pepper.

(When I was a little girl, in an effort to get me to stop sucking my thumb my grandmother used to paint it with hot pepper sauce. Needless to say, I've had an affinity for the stuff ever since.)

[totoro]

I love Salmon!!! Thanks BBK
I do the Foil Wrap on the BBQ with lemon slice a little butter salt and pepper then lots of fresh Dill!!! so yummy You just lay the whole sprigs right across it! Serve with Brown rice and a veggie, grilled Asparagus!!!

I also will put veggies in a baggie with balsamic vinegar and olive oil some pepper and let sit for a few minute... then grill!!! yummy!

[SearchingForRainbows]

BBK,

WTG!!! I love salmon and am going to try all of these recipes. This is such a wonderful forum. It's so nice to be able to come here and just focus on ourselves - not all of the problems we have with our GsFG!!!

BBK, I'm so happy that you're here!!! WFEN

[LittleDudesMom]

Trinity,

I'm the same way! I love spicy stuff. I'm trying another recipe tonight that is chicken with red thai chili sauce. You use light coconut milk and lots of yellow peppers, mushrooms and onions. I got the chili paste at my local regular grocer and all they had was mild. Rest assured there will be some added crushed red pepper flakes in there!!!!!! I'll let you know how it turns out.

Sharon