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Pan Seared Salmon With Bruschetta Sauce

Pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce will become your summer go-to recipe… it is so simple and you’ll want to eat the sauce by the bowlful!

pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce

I love dishes that contain both hot and cold foods in the same dish. There’s just something about the temperature and textural opposition that  works especially well in the summer. When I used to live by the beach, we would order salads from our favorite Italian restaurant and eat them while we watched the sun setting over the ocean. It was really quite perfect. The salad that was worthy of this beachy sunset was literally called “hot and cold salad”.  It was made with hot grilled vegetables and cold crispy lettuce and there was something about the heat meeting the cold in that big bowl that was magical. This pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce has that same magical quality.

For me, a light beach breeze and a comfy lounge chair is a pretty great place to be. I want my food — and cocktails — to be deserving of the surroundings.

This pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce is beach sunset worthy.

Add a nice cold glass of Sauvignon Blanc… hmmm… can’t think of much that would be better.

The salmon is seared, skin-side down until it is crispy.

The key to this crispy skin is easy: Don’t touch the fish while it is cooking. Really. Don’t touch it. Don’t try to peak underneath. Don’t move it around. Not even a little. Just let it be.

Okay, so now you’ve got crispy salmon cooked to perfection.

This simple sauce is made by pulsing the ingredients in a blender very briefly. It’s a cold sauce.

Oh, and did I mention that the sauce only has 4 ingredients? Yup, it’s like when you eat a great meal in Italy, and everything tastes so simple and fresh. This is just like that. Fresh and simple. Fresh tomatoes. Fresh garlic. Oil. Vinegar. Done.

And it’s this combination of the hot crispy fish and the deliciously refreshing cold sauce that makes this pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce taste so good.

If the hot and cold thing doesn’t resonate with you, you can heat the sauce. My inspiration for this recipe came from a genius recipe from The Kitchn.  Their recipe for Saucy Skillet Salmon won me over immediately. So, I owe a big thank-you to those awesome foodies.

The last time I made this, I made a huge batch of the bruschetta sauce and put it in a bowl in the fridge so I could use it all week. It’s great on chicken, on vegetables, and even as a gazpacho type soup (I topped mine with some roasted shrimp and avocado).

See my recipe for Salmon With Parsley Sauce for another great way to make salmon.

pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce

I’m on a big customized-recipe-creation kick right now… let me customize a recipe for you that will work for whatever’s going on in your body now… I’m such a geek that I really do get excited about doing this. So CLICK HERE to be taken directly into my calendar to sign up for your free phone consultation.

pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce

Here are some of the healing ingredients in this pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce recipe:

Salmon is the perfect food to nourish the blood and the yin. It’s especially great for women because it raises fertility levels by promoting a healthy endometrial lining. Salmon is also great for anyone who is in need of additional iron. Be sure to buy wild salmon because the levels of mercury are lower than in farmed salmon. This beautiful fish also contains large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, making it a good food source to combat breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, asthma, depression and diabetes. Lately there’s also been a lot of evidence that salmon is great at reducing intestinal inflammation and that it’s also good for your joints and muscles.

Garlic is amazing in its antiviral and antibacterial capabilities. Garlic is actually a Chinese herb (Da Suan). It’s used to kill toxins and parasites and also to reduce swelling in the body. It’s what I call a great “A” herb: anesthetic, antibacterial, anti fungal, antioxidant, antiviral, etc…. The garlic in this recipe is raw, so it adds quite a kick so if your not a total garlic love use it sparingly, or, if you are like me… amp it up and add a few more cloves.

In Chinese medicine, we use tomatoes to aid in digestion and to help detoxify the body. They are also good to combat excess cholesterol, lessen inflammation and curb asthma. Tomatoes can also quench thirst, and they can help fight some kidney infections.

pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce

If you make this pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce, please be sure to let me know in the comments below. I love hearing how you like a recipe, and I love to answer your questions! If you make it, be sure to take a photo and tag me and post it on Instagram.

 

Pan Seared Salmon With Bruschetta Sauce
Author: 
Recipe type: fish, seafood, salmon, chilled sauce, simple
Cuisine: recipe inspired by: The Kitchn
Serves: 3-6
 
The hot salmon has crispy skin. The cold sauce is sweet and tangy. It's a marriage made in heaven.
Ingredients
  • 1-1/2 lb salmon with skin on, cut into 6 pieces
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • ¼ cup plus 2-Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • 2 pints grape tomatoes
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Instructions
  1. Season the skin-side of the salmon with salt and pepper.
  2. Heat ¼ cup of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  3. Add the fish, skin-side down, to the hot oil.
  4. Press down on the fish gently with a spatula (do this several times while it's cooking)
  5. Cook until you see that the salmon is cooked about halfway up the sides of the fish -- look, don't touch the fish! Mine cooked for 5-mins.
  6. Let the fish cook without bothering it at all.
  7. Next, gently flip each piece of fish over, raise the heat to high, and cook for 30 seconds.
  8. Remove the fish to a platter, skin-side up.
  9. Make the sauce: put the tomatoes, garlic, 2-Tbs oil, and 1-Tbs vinegar into a blender. Pulse a few times until the tomatoes are in pieces, but it's not smooth.
  10. Pour some sauce into the bottom of individual shallow bowls.
  11. Lay fish on top of the sauce, skin-side up.
  12. Enjoy!

pan seared salmon with bruschetta sauce

Kale With Tomatoes And White Beans

kale with tomatoes and white beans

A few nights ago I was rummaging through my fridge trying to figure out what to make for dinner. Nothing caught my eye. I opened all of my cabinets, hoping that something would jump out at me there. That’s when I realized that I have so many cans of different kinds of beans, it’s a little embarrassing. My embarrassment was the start of this kale with tomatoes and white beans side dish.

Usually, when I cook with beans, I end up with something very warming and better suited to a cold winter night than one than a warm summer night. My daughter was flying in for a visit and I knew she’d be hot and starving and there was no way I would be able to sell a hot chili or Mexican-y dish… ugh… I was just drawing a blank.

So, I started looking through recipes on some of my favorite food blogs. A big thank you goes to Miryam at Eat Good 4 Life — she posted an awesome recipe and it was just perfect. My lack of inspiration fed on her great recipe…

If you want to learn more about the benefits of kale, and why you should make this hearty green one of your go-to greens in salads and other dishes, read this article from HealthyLine. This article lists 26 benefits you can get from kale… 26!

I served this kale with tomatoes and white beans as a side to a nice bowl of soup, and a new favorite meal was born. The next time I make salmon, this definitely will be my go-to side — it will look great next to the orange fish and… yum!

If you want another great side dish that’s perfect for summer, try my Zoodles With Raw Tomato Sauce recipe.

kale with tomatoes and white beans

kale with tomatoes and white beans

Here are some of the reasons this kale with tomatoes and white beans dish is so good for you:

Kale is everywhere these days. It is extremely nutritious, and because it to so popular you can find it already washed and prepared in lots of markets. Make sure you clean the kale leaves thoroughly and remove the center thick stems if they bother you (I don’t like to eat these think stems). This dark leafy green is a great source of fiber and calcium. It’s also rich in many minerals, including magnesium, iron and potassium. One serving contains 200% of the daily requirements of Vitamin C and 180% of Vitamin A.

In Chinese medicine, we use tomatoes to aid in digestion and to help detoxify the body. They are also good to combat excess cholesterol, lessen inflammation and curb asthma. Tomatoes can also quench thirst, and they can help fight some kidney infections. This recipe uses both fresh and sun-dried tomatoes.

White beans are good at boosting energy and calming the mind. They can help improve your memory and can lower cholesterol. And, they are a great source of protein.

kale with tomatoes and white beans

Kale With Tomatoes And White Beans
Author: 
Recipe type: side dish, kale, simple
Cuisine: recipe adapted from Eat Good 4 Life
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
This is a great, simple side-dish for everyone. Even people who think they don't like kale will love this!
Ingredients
  • 1 pint grape tomatoes
  • 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil, divided
  • sea salt and black pepper
  • 2 bunches of Lacinto (black) kale, thick center ribs removed and discarded, and leaves cut into 2 inch slices.
  • 3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
  • 1 15-oz can white beans, rinsed and drained
  • ½ cup vegan Parmesan cheese shreds
Instructions
  1. Heat 1-Tbs of the oil over medium heat in a large skillet.
  2. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until they are blistered and start to blacken a bit, about 10 minutes.
  3. Add the vinegar and the kale.
  4. Stir just until the kale wilts.
  5. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the beans.
  6. Taste, and add salt and pepper.
  7. Stir in the Parmesan.
  8. Enjoy!

kale with tomatoes and white beans