Pan Roasted Salmon with Lemony Kale

Back on Track:  My breakfast/lunch at work today was a homemade beet, grape tomatoes, quinoa, arugula, dried apricots, walnut salad with a tiny bit of goat cheese.  I dressed it with olive oil and vinegar dressing.


This recipe looked delicious and healthy.  It is that time of year to start being conscious again of what is going in my body after a nice seasonal hiatus...As nice as it was though, it was also a 4 pound weight gain.  Anyway, this dish was super easy.  Chef Symon made the whole thing in 5 minutes.  Perfect for the first Monday back at work after a long time off.  I needed to make something that involved very little stress, if any.

• Four 6-ounce skinless salmon fillets (I used previously frozen wild sockeye)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (divided)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 8 cups lacinato (black) kale (tough end ribs removed, thinly sliced - I used 2 bunches)

• 1 cup low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock (I used "Better than Bouillon Low Sodium Vegetable)
• 1 lemon (zested, juiced)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• 1/4 cup dill (chopped)

Place 2 large saute pans over medium-high heat. I used my cast iron pan for the salmon.  I used non-stick for the kale.  Season the salmon on both sides with salt and pepper. Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to one of the pans. Arrange all 4 pieces of fish in the pan and cook until the salmon begins to brown, about 2 minutes.

Flip and cook until the other side is lightly browned and the fish is cooked to medium, about 1 minute. Stir in stock, lemon zest, juice and dill. Reduce heat to a low and allow to simmer while cooking the kale.  To the second pan, add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil, red pepper flakes, and kale, and season to taste with salt and black pepper to taste.

Serve the fish on top of the kale and drizzle the remaining sauce in the pan on top of the kale.  I served my son some leftover mashed taters/yams with his.  I ate mine as is.  There wasn't any love in this prep/cooking tonight and to me, I could taste that.  I simply just threw it all together.  I didn't even want to make it when I got home as I was so tired.  It was good, but nothing special.  The sauce was very lemony though which was nice.  It filled my dinner need.