Scrumptious salmon
By Natalie Serafini, Editor-in-Chief
Iâm not a very good cook. My impatience is such that cooking is usually tossing a can of soup on the stove and heating, on extra-high heat, for all of five minutes. Do you smell that scorched butternut squash soup? Thatâs the pre-packaged scent of young adulthood.
One of my recurring issues with cooking is that Iâm awful at coordinating meals. I can handle one element of a meal, but matching that with complementary food stuffs leaves me at a loss. Rather than allowing myself to wander, lost, through grocery aisles for all eternity, Iâm attacking this gap head-on. This week Iâll teach you (and myself) a scrumptious yet simple salmon recipe with food pairings to go with it.
Salmon is a tremendously healthy fish, with all those proteins, healthy fats, and antioxidants that you want in your diet. In addition to which, it can be cooked in so many different and easy ways, whether you want to fry, grill, broil, or roast the sucker. For this recipe, weâll be frying it in a pan, and figuring out the sort of sides you should include in your meal. I based this recipe off cooking for one, but you can adjust the amounts based on how many mouths youâll be feeding.
Salmon:
One single-serving salmon fillet
Two cloves of garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
One tomato, sliced
Olive oil, for pan
Salt and pepper
In a pan, drizzle roughly one-and-a-half tablespoons of olive oil, or enough to coat the pan for fish-flipping. Heat up the pan on medium-high and, once itâs warm enough, put your chopped garlic and sliced tomato into the pan. Youâll want to cook the garlic and tomato for a while before adding the salmon, enough so that the tomato is getting soft and your kitchen is starting to smell of allium sativum.
Once the garlic and tomato have been cooking for a while (no more than about five minutes), turn up the heat a bit and add your salmon. Donât jostle your salmon too much while itâs cooking, but do make sure you stir your garlic and tomato around to avoid burning.
Once your salmon has turned a light pink on one side, flip it over. Keep cooking the salmon, checking to make sure itâs cooking all the way through. You can do this by slicing into the middle of the salmon fillet. If itâs a nice light pink on the inside, itâs fine; if itâs closer to a hot pink, keep on cooking. Add a little salt and pepper, and plate your salmon once itâs thoroughly cooked but not burnt.
To pair:
Salmon is delightfully paired with a light grain and some green veggies. I would recommend cooking up some brown or wild rice beforehandâbe sure to allot plenty of time for these rices, as they tend to cook slowly. Alternatively, for a faster grain addition, try out some couscous. Itâs a quick and easy addition to any meal, and leftovers can be saved in the fridge and made into a yummy couscous salad later. To get more creative, try adding an herb that will be complementary to the rest of your meal, or a drizzle of lemon for zest.
For green veggies, try out some asparagus. My preferred method of cooking asparagus is by âgrillingâ it on a stovetop. While you heat your pan on medium-high heat, lightly brush your asparagus with some olive oil. Do not drench the asparagus in olive oil: too much oil isnât healthy, and also negates your pseudo-grill techniqueâyou might as well sautĂ© if you add too much oil. Once the pan is hot and your âsparagus is lightly greased, lay the spears in the pan. Donât fuss too much with the asparagus while itâs cooking. Again, youâre trying to grill, not fry. Instead, gently roll the spears over after a few minutes. Your asparagus should be ready once itâs turned a beautiful bright green, but you can cook a little longer past this for a more grilled look and flavour.
Plate your meal, and enjoy! For those of you who enjoy a little drink with your meal, a white wine pairs well with salmon.