Parmesan Salmon

We try to eat salmon at least once a week. I've made it with shallot vinaigrette, poached in white wine, and a regular staple, salmon cakes.

As part of my 2013 goals to introduce some new foods to our table, I turned to my newest cookbook: Dinner Chez Moi, the Fine Art of Feeding Friends, by Laura Calder. Now that I've been cooking for awhile, I feel like I'm getting the hang of "reading" a recipe -- at least simple ones -- and knowing what it will turn out like. This one, was one of those for me, and I almost couldn't wait to make it. It is so simple that you're bound to have most of the ingredients in the house, save for the parsley, and is simple enough for a weeknight meal but elegant enough to serve to company.

Parmesan Salmon
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 6 salmon fillets 
• salt and pepper
• 1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs 
• 1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup fresh, chopped parsley
• 1/3 cup butter, melted

Directions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Lightly oil a baking sheet and place salmon on it
3. Season with salt and pepper
4. In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, cheese and parsley
5. Pack crumb mixture on top of salmon to form a crust
6. Drizzle melted butter evenly over top
7. Bake until salmon is just cooked, about 10 minutes

Salmon with Shallot Vinaigrette

I am always looking for easy weeknight meals to make. So, this past weekend, I culled the "weeknight meals" section of all my old Real Simple magazines and ripped out this goody. We had lots of salmon in the freezer from a large piece we got at Costco and the cut into fillets, and I had basically every other ingredient in the house with the exception of the rice vinegar. I love when things come together easily! 


This was a very simple salmon dish -- simply pan frying the salmon and topping it with a flavourful vinaigrette. Fast, easy and healthy. You could even make it faster if you had a few extra minutes earlier in the day, you could make the vinaigrette in advance.


Salmon with Shallot Vinaigrette
Serves 4
Printable Recipe


Ingredients

• 2 small shallots, finely chopped
• 4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 4 tbsp plus one tsp olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 1/4 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into four pieces

Directions

• In a small bowl, combine the shallots, vinegar, dill, 4 tbsp of olive oil and salt and pepper. Set aside.
• Heat one teaspoon olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Cook in pan until opaque throughout, 3-5 minute per side.
• Serve salmon with the vinaigrette on top.

Recipe from Real Simple magazine, September 2009

Salmon Poached in White Wine

We recently got a massive piece of salmon from Costco that I cut into fillets. I was looking for an easy way to cook some of this so we could enjoy it as an easy weeknight meal. Poaching immediately stood out as a simple technique that made the salmon moist and delicious. And the best part is that it took about 20 minutes to make from start to finish so we could enjoy a healthy and delicious meal in the same time it would have taken to make a frozen pizza. 

Ingredients

• 4 fillets salmon
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 1/2 tsp parsley
• 1 1/2 tsp chopped garlic
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Heat wine and water over medium-high heat until simmering.
• Place salmon in poaching liquid and dot with butter. Sprinkle with parsley, garlic, salt and pepper.
• Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 10-15 minutes, until salmon is easily flaked with a fork.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com

Salmon Cakes

We grocery shop on Thursdays so by Wednesday, we're pretty much out of food. I'm desperate to learn how to menu plan (any tips out there?), but I'm thrilled if I can scrounge something up for dinner on Wednesday.

Enter: salmon cakes.


My dad makes these and they're simple to make and use ingredients that I always have on hand. I was able to whip these up and still have something healthy for dinner.




Ingredients

• 1 potato (fairly large or two small)
• 1 tin of salmon, drained well and cleaned
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 7-8 shakes of Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tbsp bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Boil potato while cleaning the salmon and sauteing the onion and green onions
• Lightly mash the potato and add it to the salmon and sauted onion and green onions in a bowl
• Add egg and all other ingredients
• Mix ingredients and divide the mixture into six
• Shape into six patties and place them on a plate
• Cover and chill in fridge for 30 minutes
• In a skillet containing melted butter, sear the four patties for three or four minutes on each side, until lightly browned
• Put the patties on a cookie sheet and place in oven and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes
• Serve with lemon wedge or roasted garlic mayonnaise