A couple of nights ago when I made this, I’d been working on our income taxes all day long. I mean all – day – long. We needed to eat dinner in a big fat hurry because it was Ash Wednesday and we were singing in the choir at services that night, with a 6:20 call time. Whew. At 5:10 I entered the kitchen. Five minutes were used up finding a recipe. I started prep at 5:15 and I had dinner ON the table by 5:35 and we were out the door at 5:55. So, does that tell you that this recipe is FAST and EASY?
The second part is that the taste was sensational. I mean, absolutely fabulous. I think I’m going to create a new category here on my blog for EASY. Not that I have all that many recipes that would qualify, since normally I don’t mind spending time chopping, dicing, mixing, etc. The marinade came from a Steven Raichlen recipe. He’s the barbecue king, multi-cookbook author and has his own TV series, Primal Grill which will show again sometime this year. This recipe, though, came from Food and Wine, in June of ‘07. Other than the marinade, I altered all the rest of the recipe. I had no time to make a vegetable, or a carb, but I did have the makings of a salad. His recipe called for grilling the steaks. I didn’t have time to heat the barbecue. His recipe called for marinating the salmon. Oops, no time for that either except for the 5 minutes or so I took gathering and chopping all the salad ingredients. But I thought, what the heck, at least the marinade will provide some flavor. And indeed it did!
So if you’d like to grill the dish Raichlen’s way, just click over to the Food and Wine version. In the headnotes to the recipe Steven said each year he works on “one embarrassingly simple recipe, but incredibly versatile.” This was the one from ‘07. It will become a regular on my menu. AND, it would be a great company meal. Really! I had some beautiful Norwegian wild salmon (from that same home delivery meat company). And oh yes, indeed, the salmon was so flavorful. Meaty. And the sauce, although it’s a marinade, I added in at the end of cooking and it became a drizzle on the salad too. Serve the salmon with a non-tannic Pinot Noir, if you’re serving wine. If you work at it, you might be able to beat my time of start-to-finish dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes. That even beats Rachel Ray’s timing!
Arugula Salad with Salmon Steaks and Soy-Maple Glaze
Recipe By: Adapted from a Steven Raichlen recipe, Food & Wine, 6/07
Serving Size: 4
SALMON and MARINADE:
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons Asian sesame oil
24 ounces salmon steaks — 4 steaks – 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch thick
One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger—peeled — thinly sliced and smashed
2 whole garlic cloves — peeled, smashed
SALAD:
4 cups arugula
2 cups Romaine lettuce — chopped
1/2 cup fennel — very thinly sliced
2/3 cup sugar snap peas — trimmed, sliced
1/4 cup vinaigrette
GARNISH:
16 whole cherry tomatoes — halved
2 whole scallions — thinly sliced
1. In a large, shallow dish, whisk the soy sauce with the maple syrup and sesame oil. Add the salmon steaks and turn to coat. Press the ginger and garlic onto both sides of the steaks. If time permits, cover and refrigerate for 2 hours, turning the salmon a few times.
2. Prepare the salad ingredients (and dressing) and set aside. Chop and set aside the garnishes.
3. Heat to medium-high a nonstick skillet (large enough to hold all 4 salmon steaks) and add a light coating of olive oil. Remove the salmon from the marinade (reserving the marinade) and saute them to sear both sides, about 2 minutes total. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook the salmon until just barely done to your liking (about 3-5 minutes depending on thickness). Add the reserved marinade, cover and simmer for one minute.
3. Lightly dress the salad with your choice of vinaigrette dressing, pour out onto serving plates and place the salmon on top of the salad. Garnish with tomatoes and green onions and serve.
NOTES: Use your own choice of salad ingredients. No arugula? Use all Romaine. Just don’t use a real soft butter lettuce type or the hot salmon will wilt it to nothing. Add just enough salad dressing so the salad is barely slick – you’ll pour the marinade over the top as well.
Per Serving: 446 Calories; 24g Fat (49.1% calories from fat); 37g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 88mg Cholesterol; 1166mg Sodium.
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A year ago: Chocolate Sponge Roll (decadent chocolate and whipped cream)
Two years ago: Almond Bar Cookies




The credit for this recipe goes to my friend, Kunda S., a native of India. Among other accomplishments, she’s also a PhD microbiologist that I met in one of my art classes some years ago. We’ve become friends, sharing lunches occasionally. Kunda and her husband Sunat (he’s a PhD physicist) came over for dinner recently, to share some travel information with friends of ours who are venturing to India and Bhutan in January and welcomed any helpful hints about travel in northern India. We had a wonderful evening with them.
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