We have been making salmon for weeknight dinners a lot lately. It’s so easy and quick to cook and the result is a meal that feels gourmet. Also, salmon is such a versatile base for trying out various sauces and sides. I can go on and on about how light and amazing you feel after having salmon for dinner and how R and I cannot stop experimenting with it but I will stop and get right to the recipe.

Black Rice

Ingredients

1. Black Rice – 1/2 cup
2. Salt – 1/2 tsp
3. Water – 1 cup
4. Corn – 1/4 cup, fresh or frozen
5. Pickled jalapeños, minced – 3-4 slices

Equipment

1. Pot to boil the rice
2. Pan used to cook the salmon

Procedure

1. Wash the rice thoroughly in water. Add it to the pot and add 1 cup of water and salt to it.
2. Cook on high until it comes to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook until the rice is tender, about 30-40 min. Black rice is a little chewy and it might take you a while to get used to the texture.
3. Make the salsa and cook the salmon until the rice is cooking.
4. In the pan that you cooked the salmon, add the corn and the jalapeños and heat it up for about a minute. Then add the rice to it and mix.

Green Salsa

Ingredients

1. Parsley, finely chopped – 20 gm
2. Basil, finely chopped – 20 gm
3. Capers, finely chopped – 2 tbsp
4. Red onion, finely chopped – 3 tbsp or a shallot
5. Garlic, crushed/minced – 1 clove or less
6. Extra virgin olive oil – 2 tbsp
7. Lemon zest – from 1/2 a lemon
8. Lemon juice – from 1/2 a lemon or to taste
9. Salt – to taste

Equipment

1. Cutting board
2. Knife
3. Zester or fine grater
4.  Mortar pestle or garlic crusher
5. Bowl

Procedure

1. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust lemon juice according to your taste. This can be a little on the sour side since it will be eaten with the salmon and rice, which will even the taste out.
2. Also, I haven’t felt the need for adding a lot of salt so you might want to start with a pinch and adjust to your taste.

Pan Fried Salmon

Ingredients

1. Salmon – 2 fillets, fresh or frozen
2. Oil – 1 tsp

Equipment

1. Heavy non-stick pan
2. Spatula

Procedure

1. Heat the non-stick pan on medium heat and add the oil. Spread the oil around so that you have an oiled surface for the salmon. Usually salmon itself has enough oil and I just spray a little bit of cooking spray just to oil the pan.
2. Once hot place the salmon on the pan and cook until the salmon is half way cooked and then flip it over. As I have mentioned before I also fry it on the narrower sides since I like it crispy all over.
3. When you remove the salmon from the pan you will have some oil from the salmon left over, use it to fry the rice.

Serve

1. To serve lay the salmon fillet on a dinner plate and top it with the green salsa.
2. Serve the rice on the side.

 

Notes

1. I found the recipe for this salsa in the monthly magazine published by Waitrose, a grocery store in the UK. It was an amazing discovery and I am still floored by it. You can add this salsa to plain rice and it would taste amazing as a one pot meal or a side.
2. The recipe for the salsa calls for 12.5 gms of parsley and basil and same quantities of the rest of the ingredients, but I put in double that and think its better this way. Otherwise the salsa will get too garlicky.
3. Salmon is a great source of protein to try different types of rice with. I have tried white, red, brown and black rices with it and the colored ones pair nicely with it.