Salmon with Lentils

No one will ever accuse me of being a "fly by the seat of your pants" kind of girl when it comes to dinner.  I'm the exact opposite.  There are times when I plan meals for up to three weeks in advance. 🤣  I know, I know - it's borderline obsessive but, I suffer from dinner anxiety and I lose sleep over the lack of a well organized meal plan. 😜  

The funny thing is that even though I go through the trouble of meticulously planning out my meals, things hardly ever go as planned when it comes to dinner.  I've been know to actually stretch three weeks of meal planning into twice that many dinners because well, life happens.  There are nights when I run out of time to fix dinner.  There are days when we decide to go out to eat for a meal when I had intended on cooking and then there are nights when I'm just simply not in the mood to eat the meal that I had planned.  #Icravepizzaeveryday  🍕😅 

I love salmon and I was so excited about trying this Salmon with Lentils recipe that I added it to my meal plan almost immediately after I found it.  I even bought all of the ingredients to make it.🐟  And then life happened - an impromptu birthday meal, a date night dinner out, a last minute invite to dinner with friends and a refrigerator full of leftovers from a Super bowl party that we didn't get to attend - all took precedence over making salmon.  So, I did the thing that I hate to do with fresh fish - I tossed it in the freezer. 🥶 

More than two weeks after I originally planned to make this yummy meal, it finally made its way back to the top of my meal plan.   And it was delicious.  Worth the wait.  And the fish that I was worried about freezing, turned out to be very good.  

Salmon with Lentils
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, minced
1 celery rib, sliced thin
1 carrot, peeled and sliced thin
1/4 cup + 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/2 teaspoons pepper
2 1/2 cups water
1 cup lentils 
1 Tablespoon sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 salmon filets

Heat 1 T. oil in saucepan.  Saute onion, celery, carrot and 3/4 t. salt, 8 minutes.

Add garlic, tomato paste, thyme and 1/2 t. pepper.  Cook 2 minutes. 

Stir in water and lentils.  Bring to a boil. 

Cover and simmer 40-50 minutes. 

Dissolve 1/4 c. salt in water.  Add salmon and let sit for 15 minutes. 

Remove salmon from brine and pat dry.  Sprinkle with 3/4 t. each salt & pepper. 

Place salmon, skin side down, on a hot grill or skillet and cook 6-8 minutes without moving.  

If using a skillet, flip salmon and cook an additional 5-8 minutes.  (125 internal temperature)

​Stir vinegar, mustard and 1 T. oil into lentils.  Season with salt and pepper. 

Divide lentils among bowls.  ​ Arrange salmon over lentils to serve. 

​Ciao!

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