Almond Crusted Salmon

Almond Crusted Salmon...I like to eat a lot of fish during the week, its healthy, its quick, just seems like a good idea - right? But sometimes it can get a bit monotonous and sometimes you need to add a new texture to the mix. Enter almonds.

I've had nut crusted fishes before, but last night I decided to attempt my own version - using whole unsalted almonds and salmon. I figured I'd just make it up as I go, as I often do, and that if it turned out well I'd share it, and if not no one would ever have to know that it was a bad combo. I will say it did turn out well and I am quite happy to share that it was simple and provided a nice crunch without using breadcrumbs and instead adding protein on top of your protein!

On The Menu:
Almond crusted salmon, sauteed broccolini, and whole wheat spaghetti w/sauteed onions & tomatoes

The Almond Crusted Salmon:
I happened to have a bag of unsalted whole almonds in my pantry, which I bought a little while back thinking I'd be good and eat them as a snack at work. As it turns out I hate unsalted whole almonds, so they've been sitting there just waiting to be put to use. I grabbed a big hand full of the almonds and put them in a zip lock bag, ensuring all of the air was squeezed out. I took a meat tenderizer, and using the small pokey side I gave it a good smackin. You could use the bottom of a pot, or you could toss them in a food process to get a good chop. My technique worked quite nicely so I'd recommend it if you've got some sort of tenderizer/mallet.

Once the almonds were half dust/half small crumbles I dumped them into a cream soup bowl (a flat plate would do) and added a liberal sprinkling of grill seasoning. You could add anything here. If I had any fresh herbs on hand they would have been chopped and added - but alls I had was the seasoning. Then I gave it a nice mix so that the salmon would get a good even coating. Before dredging the salmon in the almonds, I patted the it down with a paper towel (in the hopes it would make the nuts stick better) and I added a little salt & pepper to the fillets. Then the dredge. Sadly not much of the nut mixture adhered to the raw salmon so I ended up using a spoon to cake the rest of the nuts on top of the fillets. Once they were nicely covered I drizzled a bit of olive oil over the top and popped them in the oven at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.

The Pasta:
This type of side dish has become a staple when I want a little carb and need to use some veggies in the fridge, yet want to keep it light. I sauteed one whole yellow onion (which I had sliced and cut in half) along with the rest of the little yellow tomatoes I had to use up - in olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, crushed dried oregano, and crushed dried basil. Once the tomatoes were ready to squish up I did so and added just a tiny bit of butter. I let that continue melding together on low heat before adding my al dente whole wheat spaghetti.

The Broccolini:
Simple saute in olive oil, salt and pepper. A little steam action at the end and voila - flavorful greens!

Happy Friday to all - try this Dahlicious new fish recipe next week when you're ready for a little crunch!