Pesto Bruschetta Salmon

Who DOESN'T love pesto?  The basil, the olive oil, the garlic...omnomnom.  And Pesto goes so well on so many different things...like salmon!  I mixed diced tomato, onion, and oregano into my pesto to make a bruschetta style sauce with a big of crunch and extra kick to pair with the mild salmon flavors.  

The Meat

- 2-3 fillets of sock eye salmon

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

The Veggies

- 2 yellow potatoes, sliced

- 1 cup green beans, tips trimmed

- 1 cup spinach, raw

- 1 cup water

- 1 tablespoon bacon grease

- salt, pepper to taste

The Sauce

 - 1 (packed) cup of basil

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1 tablespoon toasted pine nuts

- 1/4 cup olive oil

- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

- lemon juice to taste

- 1 small slicing tomato, diced

- 1/2 onion, diced

To prepare the veggies, I boiled them all together with the water and bacon grease, seasoning lightly.  I cooked everything on high heat in a medium sized pan for around 15-20 minutes until most of the water had boiled away and the potatoes were soft.  

I cooked the salmon fillets on high heat with my griddle pan, flipping every 4 minutes or so until the salmon was opaque and flaky, around 8-12 minutes depending on the size of your fillets.  I seasoned them lightly, and when time to serve smothered the fish with my sauce. 

In a blender or food processor, I blended together my basil, garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, lemon juice, and parmesan cheese, pulsing and scraping down large chunks to make sure everything was smooth and consistent.  I tossed in the tomato and onion with a spoon.  

*If you don't want to go about the business of making you own pesto, I won't judge you if you buy pre-made pesto from the store.  

This meal is easy to make, slightly less easy to clean up (due to the blender), and all over delicious.

Lemon Butter Salmon With Turnips and Zucchini

The combination of bacon grease and butter makes this meal so tasty.  Indulge in delicious fats!

The Meat

- 2 fillets of boneless, skinless salmon

- salt, pepper, dill to taste

- 1 teaspoon bacon grease for frying

- 1 teaspoon lemon juice

- green onion, diced for topping

The Sauce

- 4 tablespoons of butter

- 2 cloves garlic, diced

- 2 tablespoons lemon juice

- salt, dill to taste

The Veggies

- 2-3 turnips, thinly sliced and cut

- 1 large zucchini, thinly sliced

- 3 mushrooms, thinly sliced

- 6 Padron peppers, diced

- 1 tablespoon bacon grease

- salt, pepper, dill, basil to taste

- 1/2 heirloom tomato, sliced

- fresh mozzarella to taste

- 1 teaspoon olive oil

- salt, pepper, basil, oregano to taste

Begin by dicing the veggies and putting them in a large pan.  Add the bacon grease, season everything, and bring the heat up to medium.  Saute all the veggies for around 15 minutes, until the turnips and zucchini are soft.  

Melt the butter in a small saucepan on medium heat, and cook the chopped garlic until it is soft and has brown edges.  Add the salt, dill, and lemon juice, and bring it down to a low heat to let all the flavors meld together.

Cook the salmon on a griddle pan, using high heat.  Season the salmon while the bacon grease warms up in the pan.  Sear each side of the salmon, a minute per side, and sprinkle the seared sides with the lemon juice before letting them sit longer, around 4-5 minutes per side.  The salmon should be pinkish, opaque, and flake apart with a fork.  Watch it so it doesn't overcook and dry out.  

Toss the mozzarella and tomato in oil and the seasonings, then add them to the vegetables.

Put the cooked vegetables on the plates and place the salmon next to/somewhat on top of them.  Drizzle the salmon liberally with the lemon butter and garnish the dish with the diced green onion.  Enjoy!

Savory Baked Salmon

I love salmon.  I love dousing it in dill sauce, smothering it in dijonnaise, barbecuing it, and so on and so forth. But sometimes I like it baked plain*, with just a little bit of spice and lemon.  

*Plain doesn't mean there isn't work involved preparing your meal, sorry.  Not on my blog, anyway.

The Meat

- 2 servings of sockeye salmon fillets

- 2 teaspoons lemon juice

- savory, dill, bay leaf, salt, pepper to taste

- 1/2 large slicing tomato, sliced (duh)

- 2 tablespoons butter, divided

- capers (as much as you want)

The Veggies

- 1 bunch broccoli

- 1 cup of carrots

- 1/2 red onion, sliced and diced

- 1 cup water

- salt, pepper, paprika to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

I had a bunch of giant, delicious slicing tomatoes in my Farm Fresh delivery box this week, so I decided it would make a nice addition to the salmon tonight.  I placed the salmon in my baking dish, spooned on the lemon juice, and spiced my fish.  Then I threw a ton of capers onto the salmon.  I layered the slices of tomatoes on top of the fish and dotted them with the butter and a bit of salt.  I tossed it into the oven for 20 minutes.  If your pieces of fish are extra big, check it at 20 minutes, but don't let it go past 25 minutes or your fish will be too dry.  Cooking it like this makes sure that it is flaky, soft, and juicy on the inside, but properly baked and crispy on the outside.  

I stuck the broccoli and carrots into my steamer tonight.  I steamed the broccoli and carrots for 20 minutes.  After 10 minutes I added the sliced red onion - I didn't want the onion to be too mushy or stringy so they didn't need to stay in the steamer as long. 

This dinner is easier on the prep than most of my meals, but still tastes great.  It's perfect for a warm evening!

Feeling Yellow-Orange?

Every now and then my husband asks for a meal that is all the same color.  He thinks it is great fun to challenge me to make a tasty meal while staying in a color group or two.  Tonight was one of those nights, and yellow-orange was the color.  Good thing I'd been to the Farmers' Market this weekend!


The Meat
- 2 fillets of sockeye salmon with the skin
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- salt/pepper/dill to taste
- 1 slice bacon, crisped and crumbled


The Veggies
- 1 cup yellow cauliflower, diced
- 2 yellow potatoes, peeled and cubed
- 3 carrots, sliced
- 1/4 cup onion, sliced
- 2 yellow summer squash
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons lemon juice (or more, to taste)
- dill, thyme, salt, pepper, paprika, cracked red pepper to taste


The Garnishes
- 4 slices of yellow heirloom tomato
- cracked pepper goat cheese


I threw the veggies in my 3" deep pan and let them cook away with the water, lemon, and spices, on medium high heat for around 20 minutes.  While they simmered I "dressed" my salmon with the lemon juice and spices and fried up the slice of bacon.  Then I grilled up the salmon on my awesome griddler with a little bit of bacon grease left over from making the slice of bacon on my nonstick griddle pan (different from the griddler).  Since the griddler cooks both sides simultaneously, it only took around 7 minutes to finish the fish.  You want to cook the salmon until it is flaky, but check it often to make sure you aren't overcooking it - dried out salmon is not appetizing.


When the veggies and salmon were cooked, I layered the vegetables on the bottom and put the salmon on top.  I sprinkled on the bacon, a few slices of big, juicy tomato, and some delicious goat cheese coated in cracked pepper.  Voila!