Saturday, January 14, 2006

Easy Weeknight Meals: Almond Crusted Salmon


One of my holiday projects was editing my stack of Bon Appetits--cutting out recipes or ideas that looked interesting. While I hesitated before tossing the magazines, the practical side of the brain reminded me I’d be much more likely to use the recipes this way. This project also made me glad I’d stopped the subscription after a couple years--the mag is good, but after awhile you realize they basically repeat similar recipes and stories over and over again.

In my sorting, I found a ton of quick and easy fish recipes (perfect for New Years Resos #1 and #3). This weeknight meal derives from one such find. For the almond crusting I stuck to the intstructions, but instead of a leek and lemon cream sauce, I simplified to sauteed leeks--because really, cream isn’t healthy, and sauce isn’t quick and easy. (If you want the original recipe, visit here)

Almond Crusted Salmon with Sauteed Leeks
two servings

1 medium leeks, halved, thinly sliced (white and pale green parts only)
1/2 cup sliced almonds, chopped
1/2 tablespoon grated lemon peel
pinch sea salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup all purpose flour
2 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets
1 large egg, beaten to blend

Preheat oven to 450 if your salmon fillets are thicker than 1/2 inch.

Chop your leeks and saute in olive oil until soft and slightly brown, set aside.

Mix the almonds, lemon peel, salt and pepper in a shallow bowl. Place flour on a plate, egg in a shallow bowl. Dredge the salmon first in the flour. Then dip one side in the egg, followed by a dip in the almond mixture.

Heat olive oil in an oven-safe pan and place salmon fillets in pan, almond-side down. Cook until crust is brown, approx. 5 minutes. Flip and cook until just slightly pink inside. If your fillets are very thick, you may want to finish them in your very hot oven instead of over-browning the almonds. I found tossing the pan in the oven for five minutes or so did the trick.

4 comments:

Fern said...

This is delicious and truly weeknight-worthy. My skillet must have been too hot because my almond crust began to burn after about a minute and a half. At that point, I flipped the fillets and cooked the skin side for about 5 minutes. One of my pieces was thicker than 1/2 inch, but even the thin one wasn't done. I covered my skillet in foil (to prevent further browning) and kept the fish in the oven for about 8 more minutes before the fish was done. Despite the burnt almonds it was fantastic! Thank you.

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