Quick and Easy Salmon

I've been cooking for one a lot lately (sadness...) so I have to admit I haven't been too terribly creative with my cooking -- it's far more fun to try new and exciting recipes when you have someone else who will enjoy it as much as you do.  So I've been falling back on some of the tried and true favorite recipes that are easy and have never failed.  It means I can have a meal within 20 mins (only 5 of which are for prep), which is great at the end of a long day.

So today I share with you the easiest and tastiest Salmon recipe I have found (courtesy of Real Simple mag).  All you need is the following  to serve 4:

• 4 wild Alaskan coho salmon filets
• 4 tomatoes on the vine, cut in half
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 1 tsp paprika
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme, removed from stems and chopped (dried thyme can be substituted, but it's not as tastey in my honest opinion)

- Set your oven to broiler (or if you're like me and don't have a broiler, just turn it up as high as possible).  Start with a broiler-proof pan (something with a rim) and drizzle a little olive oil on the bottom (approx 1 tsp).  Take a paper towel and spread oil to cover bottom of the pan.  Place each filet, as well as the tomatoes, cut side up, on the pan.  Very lightly use salt and pepper to season the filets and the tomatoes.

- Dust just the salmon filets with the paprika.  Then place the slices of garlic and sprinkle the thyme all over the salmon and tomatoes.  Finish with drizzling a little olive oil over the top of everything.  Then pop into the oven and broil for 8-10 minutes

- While the salmon & tomatoes were cooking, I decided I needed to add some color to my meal. So I pulled some kale out of the freezer (haven't found fresh kale yet over here) and started sauteing up some of that as I waited (just add olive oil, garlic and some red pepper flakes to your kale as you steam / saute for 10-ish minutes.  Couldn't get easier.).

- 8-10 minutes later, pull out your pan - note: It will be insanely hot, but the aroma will be mouthwatering.

 - Then plate your food and voila!  Incredibly easy, healthy and tasty meal with minimal work!

can you tell I've been watching a lot of episodes of Kitchen Nightmares
recently?  Too much emphasis on presentation.

I think the best part of this meal is that you get your Omega-3s from your Salmon, your Lycopene / beta-carotene (among other nutrients) from the Tomatoes, manganese and vitamin B-6 from Garlic, and if you add Kale like I did, you get valuable antioxidants, as well as Vitamins K, A & C.  I may not be a nutritionist  but basic research shows that this is a tasty, healthy, low calorie meal loaded with nutrients that is also EASY!  So happy cooking!