A Fishy Dinner Tale

To create dinner this evening I had the beautiful blank slate that is salmon.  Salmon is a great protein, rich in heart healthy Omega-3 fatty acids (heart protective and anti-inflammatory), and delicious.  If you have not explored salmon or other fish, jump on board for new flavors and easy dinners.

I hear on occasion that people do not cook fish because they are unsure how to cook it and/or because they don’t like the smell…both things that can be remedied. Choose to bake, broil, grill, or lightly pan fry the fish and open a window or light a candle after dinner.  You can season and cook salmon just like chicken, it just takes about half the time (another great reason to incorporate it – turns into a 20 minute dinner).  Eating fish 2-3 times per week gives you the dose of Omega-3 fatty acids that are shown to provide such great benefits like reducing your risk of heart disease, among others.

Oftentimes we only get in one hefty serving (5 ounces is considered 1 serving) per week depending on what is on sale and/or available.  Recently, I have found a 2 lb. pack of wild caught salmon fillets at Aldi for $7.99.  In the fish world, I think this is great! That breaks down to $1 per 4 oz. fillet.  They are conveniently individually packed and easy to defrost.  Our simple go-to recipe is olive oil, lemon juice, garlic powder and black pepper.  Easy-peasy and done in 12 minutes.

So what did I make tonight?  It was another game of “What’s In the Pantry?!”  Dana Plummer….come on down!  I had extra Roma tomatoes and a can of black beans to work with.  I figured I could do something with those two because they sound good together anyways.  After searching “black bean and tomato salmon recipes,” I saw a recipe that provided a great idea, one that I could pull off using the ingredients I had on-hand.  The idea – black bean encrusted salmon.  The kicker - I didn’t have breadcrumbs.  My replacement this evening…wait for it…crushed up bran flakes.  It sounds a little funky, but worked wonderfully!  So, check out the following recipe for black bean encrusted salmon with fresh tomato salsa.   It turned out SO great!  We are adding it to our recipe bank for sure.

For the Salmon:

4 salmon fillets (3-4 oz. per fillet), skin removed
1 cup crushed bran flakes (about 2.5 cups flakes)
1 can (15.25 oz.) drained and rinsed black beans, separated
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ skim milk
black pepper
2 Tbsp. canola oil

For the Salsa:

½ small onion, somewhere between minced and diced
3 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 Tbsp. olive oil
½ Tbsp. (or to taste) balsamic vinegar
Thyme to taste (I used about ½ tsp.)
Black pepper and salt to taste (less than 1/8 tsp. each)

Preparing the Salmon:

1.      Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.      Pulse ½ cup black beans in food processor 5 times

3.      Add in crushed flakes and spices

4.      Blend in food processor until pieces are uniform in size and like corn meal

5.      Heat canola oil in large skillet over medium heat

6.      Dunk salmon in milk, season with black pepper, and coat in bean/bran mixture

7.      Brown one side in pan about 4 minutes, flip, and finish cooking in oven for about 5 minutes

8.      Top with fresh tomato salsa and enjoy

Preparing the Salsa:

1.      Dice tomatoes and onions, combine

2.      Add remaining black beans, olive oil, vinegar and spices

3.      Stir to combine and serve on top of salmon

Done!

 

 

Super tasty!  The bran flakes added a slight sweetness that wouldn’t have been there without them.  This dish was also incredibly filling! We served broccoli, carrots, and whole wheat couscous with our salmon, but we both agreed we could have done without the extra starch.  We left most of our couscous on our plates and saved it for leftover night.  Tonight was a good lesson in hunger and fullness cues.  I would have been STUFFED had I finished my whole plate, so instead I stopped when I was just full and will adjust how we build our plates next time.  Likely just salmon, salsa and veggies.