Salmon with Curried Creamed Spinach

I'm a new devotee of spinach. Like most kids, I hated the stuff when I was growing up, and it took quite a long while for me to acquire a taste for it as I reached adulthood. Even then, in the early years, I'd only eat it raw, as a salad or greens on a sandwich.

Somehow, though, about the time I hit middle age (that vague time frame when a person's metabolism shifts to put on the brakes, but too often fails to tell the appetite), I realized I should be eating more of it, even when the fresh stuff is not so pretty (ah, the memories of dread!). Thus, I have learned to enjoy the frozen stock, and creamed, curried is my favorite way to consume it. I've made it with a little more chicken broth, so I could have a nice sauce to serve it over rice, but for my parents, who are still not the biggest fans of spinach or curries, I've helped it by serving it with a tasty slab of salmon… The Bat can't resist a good bit of that pink fishy goodness.

So this is for The Bat.

Popeye would be proud…

Salmon with Curried Creamed Spinach

Ingredients:

2 10-ounce packages of frozen spinach, thawed, and some of the liquid gently pressed out

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

1 small sweet onion, finely chopped

1 Tablespoon curry powder

1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 cup heavy cream

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

1 Tablespoon butter, melted

salt and pepper to taste

2 lbs fresh (or frozen, thawed) salmon sides or filets, skin removed

1/2 lemon, thinly sliced

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375º F.

(If you are cooking with raw spinach or raw mixed greens, you will want to stem & coarsely chop, then, in a large frying pan on high heat, quickly wilt the greens, then allow them to cool in a strainer, lightly pressing excess liquids out, before starting the rest of the stages).

In a large, oven-safe frying pan over medium-low heat, cook onions in oil until transparent. Add curry powder, chicken broth, and garlic, and stir until evenly distributed and curry powder is dissolved. Stir in heavy cream. Allow to simmer over low heat about 10 minutes, until it becomes very fragrant. Remove from heat. 

Combine lemon juice and melted butter.

Place salmon filets on top of the spinach mixture. Pour lemon-butter over the top of fish, allowing to drizzle onto the spinach. Lay slices of lemon over the top, sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake in middle of oven about 30 minutes (as soon as the spinach has been boiling and the fish turns opaque). Remove from oven and allow to cool at least 5 minutes before serving. 

Salmon Scramble, or, Eggs You Can Pretend Are Naughty

I like scrambled eggs for supper. It's near the top of my list of comfort foods. My weakness, over the years, had been the traditional pile-on-the-bacon-and-cheddar scramble, but I've needed to cut out aged cheeses, and Pop and The Bat are looking at reduced fat and reduced sodium, respectively, so we tried a change-up.

This is really very simple, too. All you need is eggs, salmon, butter (or if you're cutting down on the saturated fats, canola or olive oil. I like using a wee bit of butter in the grander supply of canola, so I get the flavor of the butter in what I cook, but that's just the kid in me whose fondest memories involve a farm or a farm community. I likes me buttah.)

Oh, yes. You'll definitely need a frying pan, and, if you're as lazy as I am, a blender of some sort, too, but the blender is entirely optional, if you like whipping the heck out of a few eggs with a whisk or a fork.

You'll also need about fifteen minutes. 

And an appetite.

That's not a lot to demand, is it?

And, if you want to adapt up or down, on this recipe, think in these terms: 4 ounces of fish per person, and 2 eggs per person, plus one extra "for the pot" for each third person (1 person – 2 eggs; 2 people – 4 eggs; 3 people – 7 eggs; 4 people – 9 eggs; and so on).

Fish, eggs, gluten-free buttered toast, and green beans from Pop's garden. Life is good.

Salmon Scramble

Ingredients:

12 ounces of fresh (or frozen, thawed) salmon, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

7 large eggs

2 Tablespoons melted butter (or 1/4 teaspoon butter melted into canola oil)

salt and pepper to taste

butter and/or oil for cooking

Directions: 

In a large sauté pan or frying pan on low heat, simmer salmon in a small amount of oil until the pieces turn opaque, turning once or twice with a spatula.

Scramble the heck out of your eggs until they are frothy, then mix in butter (or butter mixture), blend completely, and pour over the salmon in the pan. continue to cook over low heat  until the eggs are almost completely cooked – just a little runny. 

Remove from heat, stir a couple more times, and let stand in the pan for about a minute, to let the eggs completely set up.

Serve with your favorite toast and a colorful salad and/or vegetable side.

Almost done…just a little patience needed.

And be sure to set aside a little for your wee beasties, if you have them. Even if you have a cat like mine, who doesn't much care for fish. 

WAAAANT! 

She likes scrambled eggs a little too much, though.