Salmon Sauté on Bed of Basmati Rice

Fresh Morels

Try this lovely easy dish any night of the week. You can prep rice and vegetables with their juices a day ahead, then simply reheat before cooking salmon. The final dish is light, nutritious and bursting with colors and flavor.

Serves: 4
Ingredients:

1 cup Basmati rice, rinsed under cold water

1 ½ cups water

1 tbs. sweet butter

Pinch of salt

1 cup peeled baby carrots

1 ¼ lbs. fresh peas in pod

1 cup white pearl onions

4 oz. fresh morel mushrooms (if avail. – Spring only)

3 tbs. sweet butter

2 tbs. fresh chopped Italian parsley + 1 more tbs. for garnish

1 cup A&V extra virgin olive oil

4 salmon fillets (wild or organic), about 6 oz. each

½ cup flour

Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put rice in small pan, add water, salt and butter, cover and bring to a boil. Remove top, stir around once and cover again. Lower heat to medium/low and cook 10 minutes. Turn heat off and let sit another 5 minutes before removing lid.

Julienne baby carrots (quarter each piece lengthwise) and shell peas.
Rinse pearl onions (with their skin still on) and drop into a pot of boiling salted water. Cook 5 minutes and remove with a slotted spoon (reserve pot of water for next step). Let onions cool a bit, then peel and halve (skin will slip right off). Set aside.
Drop carrots and peas into boiling water and cook 3 minutes. Drain and shock in bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process. Set aside.
Rinse morels (if using) well, dry and halve (quarter if large). Set aside.
Melt butter in large skillet over high heat for 2 minutes until melted and just starting to color. Add all vegetables at the same time and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add fish stock and continue cooking 3-4 minutes more, stirring all the while. Add seasonings and parsley, stir around a bit more, then turn off heat and cover.
Heat olive oil in large, oven-proof skillet (cast iron works fine) over high heat for a minute. In the meantime, sprinkle the top of each fillet with salt and dust lightly with flour. When oil just starts to smoke add fillets, floured side down. Cook only 1 minute, just to give color. Put whole pan in oven and cook fillets 6 minutes more. Remove from oven and start arranging plates. Place large spoonful Basmati rice on the bottom, put generous portion of cooked vegetables with pan juices on top, and place salmon fillet in center. Sprinkle each portion with more chopped parsley for garnish and serve.