Gourmet Gals

Blackened Salmon with Potatoes and Green Beans----20 minutes or less!!


This is one of our favorite meals. Blackened Salmon. I buy our salmon at Sam's Club in the frozen section. The salmon comes in individual portions and is ready to go without any de-boning or skinning.

Blackened Salmon
I make a mixture in a shallow bowl of paprika, garlic, seasoning salt, pepper, red pepper (cayenne), and anything else that sounds yummy at the time. I just rub that seasoning into the salmon while I have a pat of butter and a couple tablespoons of olive oil heating in a pan (I like to use cast iron). Once the butter is melted, I put the salmon in the pan on a medium heat. I let the salmon cook, without moving it around, until it starts to cook atleast half way through. Sometimes I cover the pan with a lid, sometimes I don't. Once it has cooked half way through, flip the salmon and finish cooking.

Potatoes

For this dinner I was craving potato skins. But with potato skins you scoop out all the actual potato leaving just the skins and all the fattening stuff. For this recipe I left the potato in, just scooping out a tiny bit so the cheese didn't fall off.

After scrubbing 3 potatoes, I pricked them and put them in the microwave until they were soft enough that a fork went through them fairly easily. I then sliced them in half lengthwise and let them cool a minute. Once they cooled enough to touch, I scooped out just a slight bit of potato--enough to make a little pool for the stuffing. Then I used "real" bacon bits (or if you wanted to take the time to fry bacon and crumble it, you could), then I sprinkled on the cheddar cheese. Next, stick them under the broiler on low for a minute or two to melt the cheese. Serve them with sour cream. YUM!

Green Beans

I love fresh green beans but this time of year, they aren't looking too good in the stores. So I resort to frozen ones. I use a small pan with a touch of butter and olive oil heated. Then I throw in the beans and let them saute for a minute with some salt and pepper. Next I add a key ingredient; stock or broth. I use any kind I have around. Chicken, beef, or vegetable. This gives the beans a great flavor. I put just enough broth in the pan to steam the beans for a few minutes. Cook till tender.

Enjoy!!!! Dinner in under 20! Leftover blackened salmon is great too!! I love to make a green salad for lunch and top it with the cold salmon. Super healthy and yummy.