Pan Seared Wild Caught Salmon w/Baked Broccoli and Spinach Salad

One of the most frequent protests we get about adhering to this lifestyle is that people are busy, and they “don’t have time to cook”. We’re busy too, and we understand sometimes you don’t have hours to spend in the kitchen! Luckily that doesn’t mean you have to hit the drive through or eat a TV dinner – Check out this simple recipe that can be made in under 30 minutes.

Pan Seared Wild Caught Salmon w/ baked broccoli and spinach salad

You can make this recipe with basically any kind of wild caught salmon.. King, Coho, Copper River, whatever is in season and available. This recipe is written with proportions for 1 person, so multiple by however many people you’re serving.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb filet of salmon
• 1 cup broccoli
• 1 carrot
• 1.5 cups of arugula
• 1 avocado
• 1 red pepper
• 1 lemon
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Coconut oil
• Grass fed butter

Start by pre heating your oven to 400(F) degrees, and while it heats up, let’s prepare the fish.

First, you’re going to want to make sure you remove any excess moisture from the salmon, and season it with coarse sea salt and fresh ground pepper. I prefer to go easy on the salt and liberal with the pepper. Choose your own adventure here. Once you’ve seasoned the salmon, get your pan on the stove top heating it to medium high(5.5 – 6), preferably using a cast iron pan, but stainless steel works as well.

Because the broccoli will take longer to cook, get it in the oven as soon as possible once it’s been preheated. Using a baking sheet, oven safe glassware, or even another cast iron pan, apply your coconut oil. You can use palm oil or grass fed butter here, but I really like the flavor the coconut oil imparts into the broccoli in this case. Once you’ve coated the broccoli in your fat, place it in the preheated oven and cook for about 15 minutes.

Salad time. Start by chopping your carrot to the thickness you prefer, then seeding your red pepper, and cutting it into cubes, you’ll probably only use half. Next, if you are only making this salad for one, slice the avocado in half, and keep the seed in the half you are not eating, seal it up and put it in the refrigerator. Note: Red pepper and avocado go incredibly well with eggs, so use the other portion tomorrow morning with breakfast! Set your salad ingredients aside, and let’s cook some fish.

Now that your pan has heated up, put down a small pat of pastured butter and wait until it melts, making sure to cover the area which you are going to place the salmon. Once the butter heats up, place the salmon on the pan flesh side down. I like my salmon crispy on the outside and pretty rare on the inside, so I will cook it about 3-4 minutes on each side. If you prefer it more well done, adding about 1 minute more on each side should do the trick and cook it all the way through. Once it’s on the pan leave the fish alone! It’s important to not move the salmon, so as to get a good sear on it.

While the salmon is cooking, let’s make the salad dressing. In this case we are keeping it super simple – just toss your greens, chopped red pepper, avocado and carrots with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil, and a squeeze of lemon. Reserve a wedge of lemon for the final plating. Add cracked pepper to taste. That’s it, you’re done with the salad!

by Chris Clark