Daily Unadventures in Cooking » Salmon

Quick Orange and Maple Roast Salmon

katerina — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 14:37:47 +0000

Apologies for the lack of recipes for the last week, sometimes life is just too busy to cook and even for someone like me who loves being in the kitchen, work and outside factors can get in the way. When I get really busy I tend to create things which can be made in less than 20 minutes, involve melted cheese, or are grabbed from the freezer.

Since you all know how to melt cheese, how about a really quick roast salmon recipe? When I am in a crush I regularly throw everything on a baking tray and roast it. I just can’t get enough roast vegetables like kale and Brussel sprouts, and asparagus which is finally almost in season. Salmon is a great option for quick weeknight meals since not only is it healthy and cooks quickly, but it takes on flavours so well including this recipe with citrus zest and sweet maple syrup. I know I am not alone in this because Bon Appetit did an article on quick roasted meals in their last issue (tell me this roast chicken and Caesar salad doesn’t look good?). I am telling you, if you learn how to use 400F to your advantage you will do it all the time.

What recipes do you fall back on when you get busy?

Salmon with Lentils and Braised Leeks

katerina — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 13:05:29 +0000

Now here is a salmon and lentils recipe which is greater than the sum of it’s parts. I could talk about contrasting flavours and textures but neither looking at it or describing the dish does it justice.

I cook at home a lot so I don’t get tons of praise unless something stands out. Not only did my husband comment on it while he was eating it (“this is so good, I am just shovelling it back. Seriously this may be the best salmon dish I have ever had…”), but he remembered and mentioned it the next day.

A fish recipe getting praise the day after it is eaten is as usual as…. well, I’ll let you know if it ever happens again.

Salmon Don (Marinated Raw Salmon on Rice) Recipe

katerina — Wed, 01 Jun 2011 12:58:31 +0000

Many years ago, when I lived in Victoria we used to frequent this Japanese retaurant called Zen sushi (or Sen Zushi). The soup had fish heads in it, the slabs of fish were so long they appeared to swim right off the nigiri, and they had this salmon donburi. The salmon don was unlike anything I had seen before or have found since. It’s been 7 years and I still think about it.

Donburi or don translates to rice bowl, and usually a salmon don means pieces of fish on rice. Instead, in their version the raw salmon had been tossed with a salty and fresh dressing which I have been wanting to replicate every since.

Unfortunately, the restaurant no longer exists so I can’t send you there, but instead why not be adventurous and try making this at home? If you are have trouble finding sashimi grade fish try your local japanese market, you should be able to find it frozen. RIP Sen Zushi.

Broiled Salmon with Spinach and Feta Recipe

katerina — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:33:39 +0000

This salmon recipe takes less than fifteen minutes to prepare. You cook the salmon separately from the greens which is how it comes together so fast. A perfect quick and healthy meal for a late weeknight supper.

The salty feta and spinach is balanced well with the strong flavours of the salmon and the freshness of the lemon. J actually makes a chicken with spinach and feta cheese which is very similar and was currently in the works to be published so expect that soon too. Besides the obvious spanakopita, really, spinach and feta goes with everything, I especially love it in pasta and omelettes.

Broiled Salmon with Spinach and Feta Recipe
(serves 2)
Adapted from the Martha Stewart website

2 salmon fillets
salt and pepper
1 box baby spinach
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 lemon
1/3 cup feta, crumbled

Turn on the broiler and position the oven rack in the top position. Put a large skillet on a burner on medium low. Pat the salmon dry on both sides and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place salmon flesh side up on a baking sheet and put under the broiler until cooked. (I had lovely thin, tail salmon fillets and they took 5 minutes, but we like our salmon rare.)
While the salmon is cooking add the spinach to the skillet with a pinch of salt and pepper, if you can’t get it all in to begin with, that’s fine. Stir fry it until it wilts, adding more as there is room. When the salmon is wilted down, remove from the heat. Add the juice of half the lemon, the pine nuts, and the feta cheese and toss. Plate salmon together with spinach & feta mixture plus cut the remaining lemon in wedges and add to the plates.

Salmon with Dill and Leeks Recipe

katerina — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:55:00 +0000

Fall is lovely but it can bring on really heavy stewy dishes. If you need a break try this light salmon dish using the currently in season leeks. Leeks are lovely and underrated. They turn really sweet when sauteed and are a nice contrast in texture to the crispy salmon.

I adapted this recipe from Bitchin’ Kitchen cookbook and was very happy with the way it turned out, I cooked the salmon for 5 minutes on one side and 90 seconds on the other and next time I would do slightly less – but I like rare salmon. Especially when it is fresh! My only criticism is that for me I would have preferred slightly wilted spinach to totally raw. Some of the spinach was wilted by the sauce which was perfect, but next time, I might do that to it all and J agreed.

What I noticed was interesting was that on the website, the recipe is slightly different and calls for the sauce to be blended. I am sure that would be lovely too, but I like this rustic presentation.

Crispy Salmon with Dill and Leeks
(serves 2)
Adapted from Bitchin’ Kitchen Cookbook

2 tablespoons butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 leek thinly sliced
1 cup veggie or chicken stock
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons fresh chopped dill
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 salmon fillets, skin on
2 cups baby spinach, packed
2 lemons

Heat a saucepan to medium low and add a tablespoon of butter. Add garlic and saute until golden, 2-3 minutes. Add leeks and continue sauteing until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat up the medium and add stock, parsley and a healthy amount of salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove garlic, stir in dill, and taste for seasoning. Correct if necessary and keep warm.

Heat a saute pan to medium and add a tablespoon of olive oil, when hot add the other tablespoon of butter. Pat salmon dry with paper towels and put salmon in pan skin side down. Cook for 5-8 minutes or until cooked halfway through, flip and continue until salmon is medium rare about 30 seconds to 3 more minutes.

Put a cup of spinach on each plate and top with a salmon fillet and half the sauce. Squeeze lemon juice over top and serve with an extra lemon wedge.

More Salmon Recipes:
Lemon and Oregano Salmon Skewers
Salmon with Lemon and Mint
Salmon with Black Bean Sauce

Salmon with Fennel, Orange and Rosemary Recipe

katerina — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Fennel and orange is a classic combination, which until now, I never had the opportunity to try. When I saw more beautiful fresh fennel at the farmers market I knew it was time. Frequently, the combination is raw fennel and raw oranges in a salad. However, because I much prefer fennel cooked I thought it would work nicely sauteed, and served with some freshly grilled salmon.

Before making this, I googled for a recipe and found a very similar Rachael Ray recipe that called to also use rosemary. I was a bit skeptical, rosemary and salmon? But all the strong flavours of the fennel, salmon, and rosemary came together very nicely. I will most definitely be combining orange and fennel again, maybe even raw. Maybe.

Salmon with Fennel, Orange and Rosemary
(serves 2)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 bulb fennel, cored and thinly sliced
salt and pepper
1 small sprig rosemary, leaves removed
1 orange, cut into wedges

2 portions, fresh salmon
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper

In a heavy pot, over medium low, get 1 tablespoon of oil warm. Add onion and fennel and sweat until soft, tender and sweet. Add rosemary leaves, cover and reduce to low, meanwhile cook salmon.
Get a grill really hot and oil it. Massage salmon with 1 tablespoon of oil and salt and pepper. Grill salmon, skin side down for a few minutes, then flip. Cook until medium rare and remove to a plate.
Remove the skin and white from orange, and cut into wedges, toss with fennel. To plate serve salmon, skin side up on a bed of fennel and orange.

Lemon Oregano Salmon Skewers Recipe

katerina — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 13:35:00 +0000

This recipe was originally published in late May 2007 and is a repost from the archives. I will be back next week with some all new recipes. Thanks!

I have never successfully grilled fish before. So I am seeing this as a bit of a mini victory and the first strike against the evil forces preventing me from becoming a grill master. BBQ: three, me: one. We cycled over to the cabin this weekend and I have zero cookbooks over there at the moment so I picked up a copy of Canadian Living’s special edition specifically on grilling. It was a great deal because it was full of good ideas including the Chicken Tikka I posted yesterday and this recipe which I have modified quite a bit. The trick seems to be to really grease the grill down after pre-heating and cleaning and before putting on the fish. Anyone having any tips for grilling fish?

Why Marjoram? Because I am enamored with it, it is growing fresh on my porch at the cabin, and I have a lot of it. I think, of all the things I have growing over there, the parsley and the marjoram are by far thriving the most. So then, why did I call the post “lemon oregano”? Because according to multiple sources oregano is marjoram and vice versa, they are simply variations on each other where marjoram is frequently considered the milder herb. Because of that you could easily use any fresh herb in the oregano family for this and because of the lemon you end up with a lovely Greek inspired marinade to compliment the salmon. I have is fairly close to oregano judging by it’s stronger then normal flavour and large leaves.

Lemon Oregano Salmon Skewers
(serves 2)

2 salmon fillets, skin removed, deboned
2 tablespoons fresh oregano\marjoram, chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt
⅛ teaspoon pepper
1 lemon, thoroughly washed
1 dried chilli pepper
skewers, if they are wooden don’t forget to soak them first

1. In a bowl or container large enough to accommodate the salmon combine the oregano, salt, and pepper. Remove the seeds from the chili pepper and add them as well.
2. Grate the zest of the lemon into the bowl and juice half of the lemon into the bowl. Slice the other half and set aside. Add the olive oil and stir thoroughly.
3. Cut the salmon into 3 cm square pieces and toss with the marinade for 10 minutes.
4. Put 3-4 pieces of salmon on each skewer and finish each with a piece of lemon. Reserve remaining marinade.
5. On a greased grill over medium heat place the skewers and brush them with more of the marinade. Grill them for about 8-10 minutes total, with the lid down, turning twice. Check a thick piece after about 7 minutes.

More Recipes:
Roast Salmon with Cilantro Pesto
Seared Tuna with Japanese Dipping Sauce
Grilled Chile-Coriander Chicken

It is shameful really, I haven’t gotten it together to participate in WHB in at least a month because Kalyn only hosts them once a month and I am pretty sure she was hosting the last time I did. Weekend Herb Blogging is a weekly event started by Kalyn from Kalyn’s Kitchen to encourage bloggers to use herbs and even veggies in their cooking. Don’t forget to check out the roundup this coming Sunday on Kalyn’s Kitchen.

Roast Salmon with Cilantro Pesto Recipe

katerina — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 04:43:00 +0000

I’m back! This weekend was a whirlwind but I think I am finally going to be able to start posting again. Yesterday we delivered the project I have been working on for the last few months and work will finally be going back to normal until after Christmas. I just can’t seem to cook anything blogworthy when I am working 11 hour days. (Anyone want to see 12 different ways to melt cheese on bread and arrange baby carrots beside it on a plate?) There are so many bloggers who make it work, but I still haven’t quite figured out how.

In addition to finishing the work project yesterday I ran my first race (a 10K) this morning. It has been a goal of mine to do a 5K since I started running back in August, however since I missed the opportunity to do a 5 in October I challenged myself to skip right to the 10. It was scary, hard and thrilling to finish. I was really pleased with my time of 1:03, next time I know I can get it in under an hour.

To celebrate my life returning to normal I flipped through Bonnie Stern’s Heart Smart cookbook this afternoon and found a recipe for an asian marinated salmon on greens that sounded wonderful and it was indeed really yummy over some light spring greens. The picture isn’t great, I tried to take a picture when it was all beautiful and green after it had marinated but my camera was out of batteries. This picture isn’t quite as nice but trust me, it’s yummy!

Roast Salmon with Cilantro Pesto
(serves 6)

1 clove garlic
1 bunch cilantro
2T hoisin sauce
1T fish sauce
1T rice wine vinegar
1/2 small lime juiced
6 portions of salmon fillets

In a food processor pulse garlic then add cilantro, you can add the stems too. Pulse until minced then add remaining ingredients and process. Put salmon in a marinating container and cover with sauce. Put in the fridge for 20 minutes. Heat oven to 425 and transfer salmon to a parchment lined roasting tin or cookie sheet. Cook for 10-14 minutes or until medium rare. Serve over lightly dressed greens.
Hint: I added a bit of olive oil to what was left in a the food processor and just tossed my greens in that!

Tags: Fish, Seafood, Healthy, Salmon

Light Salmon and Fennel Chowder Recipe

katerina — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 13:39:00 +0000

This is what you should make if you find a piece of salmon in the back of your fridge that you didn’t label and are not so sure about. It is sad and past it’s sashimi prime but you don’t want to throw it away so disguise that sucker in some soup and it will be totally yummy.

Now, I call this light because I didn’t add cream. However while reheating leftovers J added a tablespoon to his bowl and said it made the whole thing absolutely phenomenal. That might be worth it, but I guess I will have to make more to find out. Which, by the way I will. This based on a recipe from Kitchen Parade.

Cream-less Salmon, Potato and Corn Chowder
(serves 4)

750ml chicken stock
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 fennel bulb, diced, fronds reserved
1 large carrots, peeled and diced
3 small potatoes, medium dice
1 cob of corn
2 salmon steaks, boned and chopped into half inch pieces
1T minced parsley
1/4C cream (optional)

Throw the olive oil and vegetables in a dutch oven or soup pot over medium heat with a healthy pinch of salt and cook stirring well until fragrant. Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes then check and correct for seasoning. Stir in the salmon until just cooked through. Remove from the heat, stir in the parsley and the cream if using and check for seasoning again. Garnish with the fennel fronds.

Tags: Soup, Comfort Food, Vegetables, Salmon

Salmon with Black Bean Sauce Recipe

katerina — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 14:13:00 +0000

Cooking with fermented black beans has been on my list some time while and I have finally gotten around to it. My roommate in university used to make a black bean chicken that had real potential so I have been hoping to relive it a bit. I was able to find the beans in my local Asian grocery for about two dollars.

I wanted to try and use it with salmon since we have so much of it right now and it was a great combination. I found this post and used her recipe pretty faithfully. The only thing I might change next time is to hold back a bit of the cornstarch (maybe use a teaspoon?). I am quite excited to try these beans in beef marinades and maybe a sauce with some greens. Expect to seem them appearing again soon.

Salmon with Black Bean Sauce
(serves 4)

4 salmon fillets
2 teaspoons oil
2 tablespoons fermented black beans, rinsed and chopped
1 tablespoon ginger, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon corn starch
1 cup light chicken stock, or 2/3C stock plus 1/3C water
1 ½ tablespoons cooking sherry or rice wine
1 teaspoon sugar
2 scallions, finely sliced

1. Cook salmon by broiling or pan frying, set aside.
2. Heat the oil in a sauce pan and add garlic, ginger and beans. Cook for 1 minute.
3. Whisk together the corn starch, stock (or water if using), sugar and wine and add. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly and simmer for 2 minutes.
4. Spoon sauce over salmon and add scallions over top.