A Life, Lived: Salmon in Tomato-Olive Sauce

The de-hoarding continues here. Yesterday I cleaned out kitchen cupboards and Paul cleaned out another bathroom. We can see the end in sight. Sort of.

The latest de-hoarded recipe goes back to February 2010 when the folks at Food and Wine magazine published an online photo album of healthy Mexican recipes. I thought this pan-roasted salmon recipe looked interesting, printed the recipe off, and put it in the pile to try. The pile that grew . . . and grew. Now, almost two years later, we finally tried it as a part of our de-hoarding flurry.

As with all of the recipes we've tried from our hoarded stash - we were amazed with how much we liked it and a bit disappointed that we hadn't made it sooner. I'm not one to deny myself anything and the thought that I could have made this dish a few years ago and loved it then is annoying.

By finally making this recipe it also allowed me to accomplish some other things. One of our goals this year is to be more in-tune with our health. We all know that a good way to do that is by eating more fish. We have a freezer shelf full of salmon. In-tune with health and de-hoarding all in one day.

As I type this I realize that I ate fish three times last week. I've come a long way from the lad who cried at the appearance of a fish stick on my plate.

This recipe is by chef Dionicio Jimenez who serves his pan-roasted salmon in a tomato sauce spiked with olives, capers and pickled jalapeños. The accompaniment at his restaurant is Mexican rice flavored with carrots, green beans and corn. The folks at Food and Wine suggested that you could skip the Mexican rice and serve a simple yellow rice instead - score, we've had a package of yello rice in the cupboard since I went on the Spanish paella kick two years ago!

There aren't many fishes that could stand up to this full-flavoured sauce and not be overwhelmed - salmon is a natural. I bet it'd be great with halibut or mahi mahi. Since I had lots of sauce left over and I have both mahi mahi and halibut in the freezer I could experiment, although hanging on to the sauce would mean hoarding it in the freezer. Oh, what to do . . . what to do?

This dish comes together in about 30 minutes (I used canned no-sodium chopped tomatoes instead of fresh ones) making it a perfect healthy option for week-night dining. The pickled jalapenos add some heat, you may wish to lower the amount of you're serving this to someone who has a sensitivity to food with flavour. We thought it was perfect. :-)

Salmon in Tomato-Olive Sauce

5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2 pounds plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 tablespoon chopped oregano
2 bay leaves
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
1/3 cup drained capers
1/3 cup sliced pickled jalapeños
Four center-cut salmon fillets with skin (about 7 ounces each)
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large saucepan, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano and bay leaves and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are just beginning to break down, about 5 minutes. Stir in the olives, capers and jalapeños and simmer for 2 minutes longer. Discard the bay leaves.

In a large ovenproof skillet, heat the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil until shimmering. Season the salmon with salt and pepper and add to the skillet, skin side down. Cook over high heat until the skin begins to brown, about 4 minutes. Transfer the skillet to the oven and roast the fish for about 10 minutes, until slightly rare on the inside. Transfer the fish to plates, spoon the sauce all around and serve

As I was writing this post I realized that chef Jimenez owns a well-known Pueblo Mexican restaurant in Philly where I'll be for a conference in a few months. YUM! That will be a great meal even if I have to leave my colleagues behind. :-)