Month-of-One-Pan Meals: Pecan-Crusted Salmon

Welcome to my annual Month-of Recipes on this blog. Go rummaging in the attic here and you’ll find past recipe months for appetizers, chicken, soup, mini-desserts, and more. The way it works is, for each day in February I post a recipe that fits the category. This month is one-pan meals, excluding pizza, most casseroles, and slow cooker recipes.

Like most Americans, we’re trying to get more fish into our meal rotation. Fish not only has all the nutrition stuff going for it, but it cooks quickly. And, while not quite as versatile as chicken, most folks don’t try many new things with fish so they get tired of it.

Years ago, at the Green Valley Grill in North Carolina, I had my first bite of Pecan-Crusted Trout. Delicious! Melt-in-the-mouth delicious. Linger-on-the-tongue delicious. So I had to give it a go myself. Here is one of the ways I now serve salmon. The problem I face is DH. He loves my ginger-orange-lemon grass-soy marinade for salmon so much, I have trouble getting him to venture out! But I persist!

I adapted this recipe for Pecan Crusted Oven Baked Salmon and it was wonderful! I think you’ll agree!

Pecan-Crusted Salmon (2 servings)

1 sweet potato, cut in coins

½ pound Brussels Sprouts, cut in half

10 baby potatoes, halved

1 piece bacon, diced

1 tablespoon olive oil for coating vegetables

Coarse sea salt and pepper to taste

2 salmon fillets

1 tablespoon butter, melted

1 garlic clove, minced

½ teaspoon dill weed

½ cup pecan halves, chopped fine

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray.

After cutting vegetables, put sweet potato, Brussels sprouts, and potatoes in a zipper bag with oil, sea salt, and pepper. Massage to coat.

Place vegetables on the baking sheet, leaving empty space for salmon later. Add bacon

pieces to top of Brussels sprouts.

Place in oven to cook while preparing salmon. Set the timer for 10 minutes.

Sprinkle salmon with sea salt and pepper and set aside.

Mix chopped pecans with butter, garlic, and dill in a small bowl.

When vegetables come out, place the salmon in the open space, top with pecan mixture, and put back in the oven.

Bake for 15-18 minutes until the salmon flakes easily.

Serve immediately. 

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

“This is really good. I like the crunch of the nuts, that’s different. Very tasty. But, next time, can you make it the old way again?”

I must have given a look because he then said, “But it’s good to try something new, right?”

Month-of-One-Pan Meals: Baked Chicken Thighs

Welcome to my annual Month-of Recipes on this blog. Go rummaging in the attic here and you’ll find past recipe months for appetizers, chicken, soup, mini-desserts, and more. The way it works is, for each day in February I post a recipe that fits the category. This month is one-pan meals, excluding pizza, most casseroles, and slow cooker recipes.

Sometimes you just want simple, right? Well, you got it with this one-pan meal. While you certainly are welcome to add spices of your choice, sometimes just plain salt and pepper are enough. This may be the simplest recipe I’m posting this month. Again, if you have leftover rice, potatoes, or noodles, feel free to add them in. We found the veggies and chicken to be a fine dinner on its own, especially if you’re going lower carb for meals.

Baked Chicken Thighs (serves 4)

4 chicken thighs

1 bunch of asparagus, woody ends snapped off

3 large carrots, cut into strips

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Put chicken thighs in the middle of a baking dish and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned.

While chicken is baking, prepare your vegetables.

When the chicken comes out of the oven, tuck the carrots and asparagus around the thighs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and return to oven for another 25 minutes.

Serve with pan juices drizzled over both the chicken and vegetables. Enjoy!

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up

Have you picked up that we eat a LOT of chicken? Yep, that’s cause it’s easy, cheap, and you can fix it a million ways. I’ve only found, over the years, a couple of chicken recipes that DH didn’t like. DH liked that in this dish the chicken flavor really came through when it was not masked by herbs or sauces.