Crispy Salmon and Potatoes

Good morning! Hubby was working yesterday, and I wanted to have a delicious, no fuss, home-cooked meal for dinner! I went down to Albertsons and picked up a salmon fillet, a can of new potatoes, asparagus, and scallions and got to brain storming. I decided on crispy a salmon fillet, side of asparagus, tomatoes baked in the oven, and a mashed potato-salad-like dish! This is a healthier and simpler spin on something I saw made by Chef Gordon Ramsey.

Crispy Salmon and Potatoes

• Fillet of salmon, with the skin on
• Asparagus
• Can of new potatoes
• Campari tomatoes
• Fresh scallions
• Salt + Pepper
• Lemon juice
• Grapeseed oil
• Water
• Light Smart Balance

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. First off, prep everything. Drain your potatoes, wash your veggies, and score your salmon on the skin side. Slice to tomatoes into thirds if you're using the Campari, you want pretty thin slices but not so thin that they'll fall apart. Salt and pepper your tomatoes, and place them on a baking sheet and into your 350 degree oven. I left mine in the entire time I cooked everything else, so maybe 20 minutes or so? In a small dish, add a dash of oil, water, lemon juice, and salt + pepper to create a simple vinaigrette. It's up to you how much lemon flavor and oil you want, I did mine on the lighter side with half a lemon and more water so it wasn't too terribly oily. Set aside. Add your can of new potatoes into a sauce pan with a dash of oil, and cook them until they begin to brown. Remember, canned new potatoes are already cooked so we're not trying to boil them in oil or heat them up too much. We just want them barely crisped and hot so that we can smash them with a fork. While you're potatoes are crisping, cook your asparagus. I simply cooked it in a shallow bowl of water with salt and pepper, covered with a paper towel in the microwave. Less pans to wash, takes about 5 minutes. Once your potatoes have browned or crisped slightly, remove from heat and set aside.

Take your asparagus out of the water and drain on paper towels or a towel. With the back of a fork, lightly smash the potatoes with a bit of Smart Balance butter. You do not want to fully mash them, just get all the big chunks out. Add a couple tablespoons of your vinaigrette mixture to the potatoes and stir. Next, fold in your chopped scallions and set aside. It's sort of like a warm potato salad. Finally, heat a pan with a dash of oil over medium (or mediumish-low if you have an electric burner) and place your salmon fillet in the pan, skin side down. Cook over the heat until the salmon has cooked about 2/3 of the way. It will be obvious where the cooked part is because the bright pinks turns to a lighter, fattier looking pink. Flip and continue to cook the other side until the salmon is done. When the other side has cooked, remove from heat, flip the fillet back over with the skin side down and set aside. Plate your potatoes, asparagus, and tomatoes. Take your salmon fillet and flip, then plate with the skin side up. It should look crispy and flaky, and nothing like skin. Next, pour extra of your vinaigrette sauce over the entire dish. Enjoy!