Cooking Salmon Perfectly

This is a very elegant dish with a great flavor profile, that comes together in literally 15 minutes. I hope you give it a try.

Seared Salmon, Sautéed Mushrooms, And Wilted Kale With A Cherry Tomato Relish.

Slice the mushrooms.

Saute the mushrooms with a little olive oil over high heat.

Saute the greens with a little olive oil and a splash of water.

Make the relish.

Sear the salmon fillets.

Plate the dish. Cooking salmon just doesn't get any easier than this recipe. Elegant, delicious, and simple.

Cooking Salmon: Easy And Healthy

• Yield: 2 servings
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

• Extra virgin olive oil
• 8 to 9 button mushrooms, sliced
• 140 grams / 5 ounces baby kale
• 2 salmon fillets, skinless
• kosher salt and cracked pepper, to taste

For The Relish

• 9 to 10 cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 serrano chili, minced
• 3 green onions, sliced
• Juice of one lemon
• 45 milliliters / 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• kosher salt and cracked pepper, to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to low
2. Add enough olive oil to lightly coat a 10-inch sauce pan or non-stick pan. Add the kale and season with salt and pepper. 
3. Saute the greens over medium high heat. When they are finished transfer them to an oven safe dish and let rest until ready to serve.
4. In the same pan add enough olive oil to generously coat the bottom. Add the mushrooms and toss to evenly coat with the oil. Season with salt and pepper. 
5. Saute the mushrooms over high heat until they begin to lightly brown. Transfer to an oven safe dish and let rest until ready to serve. (When you transfer the mushrooms spread them out, rather that stacking them, so they don't steam too much.) At this point you can turn the oven off.
6. While the kale and mushrooms are working in the pan start preparing the relish. Quarter the cherry tomatoes and them to a mixing bowl. Add the serrano chili, and the green onions. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Toss or stir with a wooden spoon to blend and let macerate, on the counter, until ready to serve.
7. Once the kale and mushrooms are finished blot both sides of the salmon fillets with a clean paper towel. Season with cracked pepper and kosher salt. Wipe out the sauce pan with a lint free paper towel and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
8. Place the pan over medium heat and add the fillets to the pan, presentation side down. Allow to cook until golden brown, about 2 to 4 minutes. Turn the fillets over and cook another minute or two.
9. Meanwhile, divide the kale between two plates. Arrange the mushrooms over the kale. When the salmon is finished place a filet over the mushrooms. gently stir and spoon the relish over the top of the fillets.

Notes

1. I wanted to share this recipe to illustrate an important point. While I do believe that brining really does improve the texture and flavor of proteins, and it is something that I do all the time, I also realize that sometimes you just want to make dinner. I didn’t brine these fillets for that reason.
2. If you aren’t going to brine just be certain that you don’t overcook the protein. One of the many benefits of brining proteins is that the protein tends to be forgiving of careless cooking. If you overcook your fish or chicken it is usually still moist and flavorful if you’ve brined it, whereas if you haven’t brined and you overcook it it’s going to be dry and tough.
3. My point is that you can get away without brining so long as you don’t overcook your proteins. But then we shouldn't be overcooking our proteins, brined or not.

Tags: cooking salmon, ways to cook salmon, easy salmon recipes, healthy salmon recipes