Roasted Salmon on Braised Spinach

“Meat and Potatoes“, said my Sweet Lady Wife, meaning what she wanted for dinner. As I was pondering that, she added, “Fish is a meat.” Well, not to me but what the heck.

I keep a folder in my browser full of bookmarks for interesting recipes and I started thru it for fish. I found this recipe that I bookmarked over three years ago: Roasted Salmon on Braised Spinach. Simple; Uses spinach which the garden is producing in abundance; Most of the ingredients were on hand. Sold.

Not only did it taste good, it was one of the prettiest meals I have made in a long time.

Roasted Salmon on Braised Spinach

2 Salmon fillets, skin on
1 teaspoon chopped fresh dil
1/4 teaspon paprika
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Enough spinach to loosely fill a 4-qt mixing bowl
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 500F

Lay the salmon down on a foil-lines rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with dill, paprika, pepper, and a spritz of lemon juice. Set aside for the moment.

Heat a large non-stick saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the shallots in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes, until they begin to brown. Add the spinach a handful at a time, toss. When the spinach wilts, add a spritz of lemon juice. Salt and peper to taste.

About half-way through the process of cooking the spinach, put the salmon into the oven. I used a thermometer to check doneness (135F, 18-10 minutes). When the salmon is done, remove from the oven.

Place the spinach on individual plates. Pull a bit of the salmon skin away form the filet, grab the skin with some tongs, and slide a thick spatula between the filet and the skin to neatly remove it. Place the fillet on top of the bed of spinach and serve