Blake Makes

Salmon is one of my favs- it’s filling, delicious and incredibly healthy. It’s always such a treat for me to prepare salmon because we have to drive across the city to get it (at the crack of dawn Saturday morning for the best choice, I might add), so I usually stick to tried-and-true recipes. This is a great recipe because it’s so easy– it literally takes, like, 15 minutes. Blake isn’t a huge salmon fan (he’s weird sometimes; he also doesn’t like avocados- no guacamole for us…sigh…), but he really likes this dish.

Recipe courtesy of The Gourmet Cookbook.

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice
• 1 T plus 1 tsp packed light brown sugar
• 4 (6 oz) center-cut pieces salmon fillet w/skin
• Salt and black pepper
• 2 tsp vegetable oil

Directions:

• Stir together vinegar, water, lemon juice, and brown sugar in a small bowl.
• Pat salmon dry and season with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking. Increase heat to high, add salmon skin side up, and sear until well browned, about 4 minutes. Turn fish over and sear until just cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes more.
• Transfer salmon to plates and carefully add vinegar mixture to skillet (liquid will bubble vigorously and steam). Simmer, stirring, until thickened and reduced to about 1/3 cup, about 2 minutes. Spoon glaze over salmon.

This one’s quick, so hold on tight. Brown sugar glazed carrots.

Steam some baby carrots (the small bag you get) until they’re just under-done.

In a small sauce pan, melt 3/4 cup brown sugar and 1 tblsp. honey. Stir in a few sprinkles of cinnamon and a cap full of good vanilla.

Add the carrots and toss them in the sticky brown simplicity.

This is a great side dish that goes with everything. Plus, it only takes about 10 minutes to make.