Sunday, July 29, 2012

Simple Salmon



Sometimes I get so wrapped up in creating new recipes that I lose sight of why I started this website in the first place: to help busy people learn to fit healthy cooking into their lifestyles. I recently had a wonderful reminder of this mission. Liz has been my friend for more than 10 years. We were hockey teammates in college and lived together in New York right after graduation. While we were roommates, we adhered to a strict division of labor, I cooked and she cleaned. It was with Liz that I first developed my recipe for healthy chicken fingers (a dish she requests every time she comes over to my house). Well, after many years of hating/avoiding cooking, Liz has started to experiment with some of my recipes. It turns out that she's a natural.

So, for the past few weeks she and I have been exchanging tons of emails about cooking and meal planning. Having these conversations with her has really reinforced my mission with this website as a place for information, tips and general info about cooking and meal prep. Liz emailed me this week about some ideas for preparing fish. Turns out, I haven't put a lot of fish on the website, mainly because I prefer simple preparations and never thought these were "wow" enough for the site. Talking to Liz has changed my attitude about this, and so I wanted to share this simple preparation for tasty salmon with you all.

I love fish. Living in New England, I am very lucky to have access to wonderful fresh fish year round. When it comes to fish, my opinion is that simple is better. This is mainly for two reasons. First, good fresh fish can be pricey, so you don't want to ruin it with too much recipe/seasoning. And two, fresh fish is DELICIOUS - so I don't like to cover it up with a lot of stuff.

Wild salmon makes for a tasty and incredibly healthy dinner. Craig and I picked up this beautiful filet of  wild Alaskan Coho Salmon at the store this weekend, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to highlight a simple preparation for this tasty fish.

My cast iron skillet is my kitchen MVP. I use it for everything, but over the years I've learned that it is the absolute best and most precise way to prepare fresh fish perfectly. This is due to the fact that you can put the skillet in the oven. Because most types of fish are very delicate, you never want to flip it. Broiling in a skillet ensures even cooking because you broil the skillet first so that it gets super hot. This will crisp the skin of the salmon and help it to cook evenly while the rest of it broils. I have been honing this method over the past few years and it works with all varieties of fish.

I served the salmon with lemon wedges and bulgur with kale and walnuts. It was a simple and tasty meal that took approximately 20 minutes to put together.

Read more for the full recipe!



Ingredients: Serves 3
1lb fresh wild salmon filet
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1.5 tsp black pepper
1 large lemon, zested and quartered
optional: parsley to sprinkle or garnish



Step by Step Instructions:

1. Rinse and pat the salmon dry

2. Season with salt, pepper and lemon zest

3. Turn broiler on high - preheat skillet for 5 minutes, until super hot

4. Turn broiler down to low

5. Grease skillet with olive oil and carefully place salmon filet into the hot skillet, skin side down

6. Broil on low heat until cooked through, approximately 8-12 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish

7. When cooked, the flesh should be a nice pink color and flake easily with a fork

8. Serve with lemon slices and parsley

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13 Comments:

At July 30, 2012 at 3:39 AM , Blogger Choc Chip Uru @ Go Bake Yourself said...

You forgot to add the delicious part in your title :D
Lovely!

Cheers
Choc Chip Uru

 
At July 30, 2012 at 11:04 AM , Blogger Baker Street said...

Simply delicious salmon! :)

 
At July 30, 2012 at 2:16 PM , Blogger Liz said...

Liz here, and I can attest, Dara is full of fantastic tips that make preparing healthy, scrumptiously seasoned meals easier than I ever imagined. When are you going on master chef???

 
At July 30, 2012 at 4:27 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

So healthy and delicious looking!

 
At July 30, 2012 at 9:16 PM , Blogger Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

Salmon is one of my favorite entrees and your simple method of cooking and seasoning is just perfect! Great with the bulgar, too :)

 
At July 30, 2012 at 9:36 PM , Blogger Daphne Elliot said...

You are so sweet!

 
At July 30, 2012 at 10:27 PM , Blogger Foodie Stuntman said...

I love salmon! Ever try grilling it on a cedar plank?

 
At July 31, 2012 at 6:59 PM , Blogger CakeWhiz said...

I keep telling myself to eat more seafood but i always end up buying and eating chicken instead. i might have to just make a special trip to the store and pick myself some salmon so we can have this for dinner soon coz this looks so easy to make and yummy too! :D

-Abeer @ www.cakewhiz.com

 
At July 31, 2012 at 6:59 PM , Blogger CakeWhiz said...

I keep telling myself to eat more seafood but i always end up buying and eating chicken instead. i might have to just make a special trip to the store and pick myself some salmon so we can have this for dinner soon coz this looks so easy to make and yummy too! :D

-Abeer @ www.cakewhiz.com

 
At August 1, 2012 at 10:32 AM , Blogger CJ - Food Stories said...

I love salmon and my favorite version is just like this, simple & easy :-)

 
At August 2, 2012 at 3:10 AM , Blogger Nami | Just One Cookbook said...

I love this easy and delicious meal. My family loves salmon and we eat often too. I've never cooked salmon this way - in cast iron skillet and put it in oven. I'm so excited to give this a try. I already memorized the instruction too. It's simple and looks delicious!!! :D Thanks for sharing the recipe!

 
At August 2, 2012 at 9:15 AM , Blogger Lori Lynn said...

We love salmon too. Your dinner looks delightful.
LL

 
At August 2, 2012 at 9:54 AM , Blogger Jennifer Kendall said...

i've never had wild salmon before! i need to get some and try this, the preparation sounds lovely!

 

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