Baked Salmon with Lemon Butter Cream Sauce for two

This in not the best photo BUT this salmon is so good!  Salmon is for dinner at least once a week because we love it and it's so easy.  The salmon is baked in a 425 degree oven, so it cooks fast, 15 minutes.  While it's baking you make the cream sauce.  Then top baked salmon with sauce and it's done, it's that easy!  I served the salmon with roasted asparagus that was roasting in the same 425 degree oven.   Gotta love when dinner is on the table in about 20minutes!  This recipe checks all my favorite boxes, easy✓, quick✓, delicious✓ and no leftovers✓.  When cooking for two I always have leftovers so I love when a meal is one and done.  Plus, I'm not a fan of leftover fish! 

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE SALMON

2 Salmon Fillets ( skinless)

          Freshly Grated Black Pepper and Salt - to taste

                2 Tbsp. Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice

        2 Tbsp. County Dijon Mustard (or any coarse ground mustard)

LEMON BUTTER GARLIC SAUCE

1 Tbsp. Butter

1/2 tsp. Garlic Cloves (about 1 clove, minced)

1/2 cup Heavy Cream

                1 tsp. Lemon Juice (or more to taste)

1 Tbsp. dill ( finely chopped)

Freshly Ground Black Pepper and salt - to taste

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat your oven to 425°F with the rack in the center.

Lightly salt and pepper salmon.

                In a small bowl combine lemon juice and Dijon mustard. Mix well.

Arrange salmon fillets in a baking dish and pour the mustard mixture over salmon to coat. Bake for *12-15 minutes in the preheated oven.  

In the meantime, melt butter in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 20 seconds.

Pour in heavy cream and bring to a low boil. The sauce should thicken a little bit.

Take off the heat and stir in lemon juice, dill and season with black pepper and salt to your liking.  Keep warm.

Pour the sauce over the baked salmon.

                Serve and enjoy!

*Check Salmon after 12 minutes to check for doneness to your liking.  

**This recipe was adapted from Cafe Delites (Easy Salmon with Lemon Butter Sauce) 

                                                                    

Crispy Parmesan Chicken with Spring Greens and a Lemon Vinaigrette

Crispy hot tender chicken topped with cool spring greens tossed in a lemon vinaigrette and freshly grated parmesan cheese – makes for a simply delicious meal. 

I do recommend using smaller chicken breasts because once you pound them flat they can become as big as a dinner plate!  

Ingredients

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (after pounding flat they become HUGE so try and use smaller breast)
• salt and pepper
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 panko 
• 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan, plus extra shredded Parmesan for serving
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon water
• 2 Tablespoons butter  
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• spring greens (enough for 2 servings)
• lemon vinaigrette
• freshly shredded or shaved Parmesan
• lemon wedge

Directions

1.  Pound the chicken (I like to use a large baggie or heavy-duty plastic wrap) until they are 1/4-inch thick. You can use either a meat mallet, a rolling pin or even a heavy fry pan works.  Lightly salt and pepper chicken.

2.  Combine the flour, panko, parmesan, salt, and pepper in a shallow dish (use dishes big enough to hold flatten chicken breast).  In a second shallow dish, beat the egg with 1 teaspoon of water.  Dip the chicken breasts on both sides into the egg mixture and dredge both sides in the bread-crumb mixture, pressing lightly.

Heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large saute pan (large enough to hold flatten chicken or saute one breast at a time using 1/2 butter and oil) and cook chicken breasts on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side until golden, crispy and cooked through.  If the breading is browning too quickly turn down the heat.  At this point, you can put the cooked breast in a 200-degree oven to keep warm until ready to serve. Toss the salad greens with lemon vinaigrette. To serve, place chicken breast on a plate, squeeze with a lemon wedge, mound the spring greens on top and sprinkle with Parmesan.

Yield: 2 servings  (This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled)

                                                                      

Orecchiette with Italian Sausage and Spinach

This is a one-pot dinner.  That is if you start out with a large skillet.  The first time I made it I didn't use a big enough skillet and had to dirty another.   There's a lot of spinach that has to fit into the skillet so keep that in mind.  It does cook down fast but you have to have the room so just start out with a big enough skillet and you're good to go. 

I got this recipe from Kent over at Cooking 4 One.  Tonight I'm cooking for two so I doubled and made a few slight changes.  This recipe is so tasty, quick and easy cleanup.  Win, Win & Win!!

INGREDIENTS:

2 tsp olive oil 

6 oz Italian sausage 

2 tbsp shallot, diced

1 large clove garlic, minced 

6 oz orecchiette

1 3/4 cup beef broth

5 oz spinach, washed and roughly chopped 

1/3 cup cream 

1/4 cup freshly shredded parmesan cheese (plus extra for serving)

1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, add the olive oil, heat until simmering.  

2. Add the sausage, crumble and brown until almost no pink is left, about 5 mins.

3. Add the shallots and cook for about 3 minutes until softened. 4. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, approximately 1 minute. 5. Add the orecchiette and stir it into the olive oil and sausage renderings, 

spreading the mixture into an even layer in the pan. 

6. Add the beef broth and bring to a heavy simmer. 

7. Cover and reduce the heat to medium­ low, cooking for approximately 11 mins. until the pasta is nearly done and the liquid is well reduced.

8. Add the spinach and cover for 3 minutes. 

9. Stir in the wilted spinach before adding the cream and the cheese.

10. Stir the cream, cheese, and red pepper flakes to create the sauce.  Remove from the heat.

Serve with extra parmesan cheese.