Much easier to make than the mouthful of a title might lead you to believe. I got the spice level perfectly calibrated for my taste and I loved this dish. It was spicy and floral and nuanced and chock-a-block full of vegetables. You could also make it as a vegetarian option sans salmon and serve it over couscous or wheat berries, which is what I intend to do with the leftovers.
Use whatever vegetables you have handy. I used carrots, yellow squash, creamer potatoes, rainbow chard and red peppers as I had an abundance of them but, really, any seasonal combination of vegetables would work. Just make sure that, if you are using potatoes, you add them to the sauce at least 5 minutes before the rest of the vegetables to ensure adequate cooking time.
4 skinless salmon fillets (if using skin-on, remove after cooking)
10 cups assorted vegetables, cut into equal bite-sized pieces
3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 red onion, peeled and chopped
1 can full-fat coconut milk
2 tsps turmeric powder
2 tsps lemongrass paste or 2 stalks of fresh lemongrass, chopped soft center pieces only
2 tsps Cowboy Candy Hot Sauce or your favorite store bought brand
2 tsps + 2 tsps olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
Juice from 1 lemon
Juice and zest from 1 lime
1/3 cup chopped basil, Thai if possible
Salt to taste
Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and 2 teaspoons of the olive oil. Stir to combine and let cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until the onion starts to soften.
Add some salt, the turmeric and lemongrass and stir to combine. Then add the tomatoes, coconut milk and half a cup of water. Lower the heat and cook, stirring from time to time, for 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and blend to a smooth consistency. Then stir in the the lime juice and zest and the hot sauce. Taste and add more hot sauce and salt if necessary.
Place the saucepan containing the sauce back on the hob over medium heat and cook your vegetables in the sauce. Give the potatoes a head start and then add the other vegetables in order of how hard they are, finishing with your leafy green (if using). Vegetables are done when they are fork tender. My vegetables, added in order, took about 8 minutes from start to finish.
When the vegetables are cooked, stir in the chopped basil.
As the vegetables are cooking, get going with your salmon.
Pat the salmon dry and salt the fillets on both sides. Set aside.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat along with the two remaining teaspoons of olive oil. As soon as the butter is melted and the mixture is frothing, add the lemon juice to the pan. Swirl the mixture to combine and add the salmon fillets to the pan. If using skin-on salmon, place the fillets skin side down in the pan.
Cook, basting the top often with the pan juices, until the salmon fillets are nearly cooked through. Cooking time will vary greatly on the thickness of the fillet but you can monitor how done the fish is by watching the color and texture of the fillets change while checking the side of the fillet. When the fish has changed color about 3/4 of the way up, flip the fillets. The skin should stay behind in the pan or, if not, you will have a couple of minutes to remove it with a fork while the salmon finishes cooking. I would say that thin fillets will take about 5 minutes, and thick ones about 8.
Ladle some of the vegetables and sauce into 4 bowls and top with the salmon. Drizzle with some of the buttery pan juices from the fish cooking pan. I happened to have flowering garlic chives to use as a garnish but a bit more basil for garnish would be nice as well.
#fishandshellfish #vegetarian (without the salmon)
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