clickinmyheels

I love Salmon! If we are out at a fancy restaurant, I’m more likely to order salmon than a steak or other meat. One thing I absolutely love about salmon is how fast and easy it is to prepare. It is really hard to mess it up, folks! I’ve ruined and overcooked my fair share of pork chops, steaks, and undercooked chicken which had to be zapped in the microwave in order to safely eat. Salmon on the other hand is pretty fool-proof and it’s easy to tell when it is perfectly done so you don’t have to stress about serving undercooked or overcooked meat to your guests. Plus since it cooks so quickly, your grill time or cooking time are really quick and can focus on other things like the yummy sauce! There are all kinds of ways to enjoy salmon. I like it just basic with a little salt and pepper or dolled up with a citrus based glaze. My favorite and the way I prepared it for this post is with a balsamic glaze. It’s a sweet sauce with a hint of soy and tang, but not over powering so you still can taste the star of the dish, the fish! Salmon can also be cooked various ways, on the grill, in foil pouches, in the oven, on the stove. Tonight, I just cooked it in a pan on the stove. Blowing snow and bitter wind chills outside kinda made me want to stay inside and avoid the grill tonight.

I’ll admit, when I make fish, my husband is usually out of town. For some reason, he just is not a fan. He doesn’t like any fish, and very little shellfish. Normally, if we are grilling, he’ll grill out his meat and I’ll make my salmon. Or if he’s out of town,  I’ll make myself a couple servings of yummy salmon and make fish sticks or something else for my girls and enjoy the salmon all to myself. Tonight, two of my daughters wanted to taste my salmon. I shared a couple of bites with them.  My 6-year-old really loved it. She wanted the other fillet for herself instead of her kiddie fish sticks. I told her the next time I make it, she will be in on the salmon with mommy. My oldest still will not try it. She doesn’t know what she’s missing. I’m would not consider myself a “fish person.” I can tolerate Tilapia and Cod, but they are not my favorite. Other fish that smells too fishy is not really my thing. I hate how they stink up the house so I rarely fix any other fish than salmon. I love salmon. It’s not the typical “fishy” fish. To me, it does not smell very fishy at all and does not stink up the house like other fish I’ve made. So if you are a little scared, or not sure if you will like it, just give it a try. It’s so good for you and a really great super food to help fuel your body. Chances are, you will love it. If you somehow don’t love it, you can always use the glaze recipe for chicken, pork chops or anything really. I usually serve salmon on a bed of rice, but you could serve over pasta, salad greens, or alone. We don’t really have dinner parties, but if I did, this Balsamic Glazed Salmon would probably be on the menu!

Balsamic Glazed Salmon

Balsamic Glazed Salmon

serves 4

Ingredients:

4 Boneless salmon fillets. Mine were wild caught skinless, but ones with skin on one side are fine too.

2 green onion stalks sliced. Mince up 1 TBS of this.

1 Garlic Clove – minced fine

2 TBS extra light olive oil

1/3 C Low sodium Soy Sauce

1/2 C Balsamic Vinegar

2 TBS Honey

2 TBS light Brown sugar

3 teas corn starch

1/4 teas ground black pepper

1/4 teas Sea Salt

1 TBS Toasted Sesame seeds

 

Directions:

Thaw your fillets if frozen either in the fridge the morning that you will need them, or in cold running water a few minutes before cooking. Pat them dry and set aside.

The glaze:

Make the glaze by heating up olive oil on medium heat in a medium-sized sauce pan.

Add the minced TBS of green onion and the minced garlic to the oil. The rest of the sliced green onion will be reserved for garnish at the end.

Sauté minced green onion and garlic for a few min, stirring and lowering heat to prevent burning.

Add in the Soy sauce, Balsamic Vinegar, Honey, and Brown Sugar and stir over medium heat.

Add in Salt and pepper to taste.

Mix 3 teas corn starch in 1/2 C cold water and slowly stir this into the glaze mixture. Heat to boiling and boil for 2-3 minutes over medium – high heat. Turn down to low simmer and stir and sauce will reduce and thicken a little.

The Salmon:

I prefer to use a non stick pan and spray it with non stick spray to prevent any sticking. Heat sprayed pan over medium high heat.

Lightly salt and pepper the salmon on both sides and gently lay in the pan. Turn heat down to medium and cook for 2-3 min per side until the salmon is light pink, flaky and cooked to around 125 Degrees. If your fillet has skin on one side, you can either remove it prior to cooking, or sear it up and cook it on the fish. It’s perfectly fine to eat. It should be crisp like chicken skin. You can cook the fillet skin side down most of the way until it’s just about cooked and then flip it over gently to finish off cooking on the other side.

At the last 30 seconds of cooking, ladle over a spoonful of glaze over each fillet and let this caramelize and flavor the fillets in their last few seconds of cooking.

Gently remove fillets from the pan. I serve over a bed of rice. You can serve over pasta, over veggies or salad greens, over anything you like, or just alone. Spoon more glaze over the salmon. Sprinkle with a little toasted sesame seeds and the sliced green onion.

 

I’ve also made this with a little orange juice and ginger in the glaze. You can easily play with the flavors and adjust them as you like.

Enjoy!