Lemon and Dill Salmon with Sautéed Tomato, Spinach, and Feta Orzo Ala Pam

Good buddy Joe called to say he’d provide the salmon if we’d cook it and provide the sides to which we quickly agreed.  Rather than use our normal cooking method, I decided to try something different and went to one of my go-to sources for good recipes who just happens to live in the Pacific Northwest – salmon country.  Pam had several salmon recipes on her For The Love Of Cooking Blog and the one that appealed to me this day was Lemon and Dill Salmon with Sauteed Tomato,Spinach, and Feta Orzo.  Check her blog for the original recipe and here’s a shot of her dish from the website.

I pretty well followed her recipe but doubled it to get the one below:

Ingredients:

Salmon:

2 lb salmon fillet

2 tsp butter

2 tsp olive oil

2 clove of garlic minced

Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper to taste

Fresh dill to taste

Lemon slices

Orzo:

2 tbsp olive oil

1 lb orzo prepared per instructions

Container of cherry tomatoes - halved

2 clove of garlic minced

2 big handfuls of baby spinach

Juice of 2 lemons

2 tbsp fresh dill

Sea salt and freshly cracked lemon pepper to taste

Feta cheese to taste

Instructions:

1. Preheat the grill to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with tin foil then coat it with cooking spray.

2. Combine the butter, olive oil, and garlic together then spread evenly over the top of the fish. Season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Sprinkle freshly chopped dill all over followed by a layer of lemon slices. Place skin side down on the prepared baking sheet.  Larry used the grill (since I was cooking one steak) but wanted it to behave like on oven so I used the set up below and since I wanted the skin to stick to the foil (for easy removal), I didn’t oil it.

3. Cook the orzo in salted water per instructions, drain the. Heat the olive oil in a sauté pan. 4. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring often, for 3-4 minutes. Add the minced garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Add the drained orzo and cook a few minutes to reheat then add the spinach, lemon juice, and fresh dill. Toss to coat evenly then season with sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste. Taste and add more olive oil, lemon juice, or salt & pepper, if needed. Add to plate then sprinkle with feta cheese.  Larry did this on the grill side burner while the meat was cooking.

5. Place the fish into the grill and bake for 10 minutes or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork (about 120F internal temp). Don't overcook! Remove the salmon from the grill and cut into servings then place fish on top of the orzo.

I was still busy cooking the steak and failed to get shots of the finished orzo or salmon but here it is on my plate which also includes cucumber salad and cornbread (for Joe).

We all thought it was very good and my cooking set up worked well, cooking the salmon evenly and the skin stayed with the foil as desired.  Thanks Pam for a delicious supper.

Photos can be enlarged by clicking on them and the blue words are links.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by Almost Heaven South.

Larry

8/4/19 event date