Cucumber Dill Salmon

Cucumber Dill Salmon

Cucumber Dill Salmon - pan seared salmon topped with a creamy cucumber-dilly sauce. Simple, sophisticated taste in just 20 minutes.

It’s a new year and while I really enjoyed all the holiday goodies (hello leftover Fettuccine Alfredo for breakfast), it’s time I started eating more responsibly, kicking it off with this Cucumber Dill Salmon

There are a lot of reasons to eat salmon, but the best reason is that it tastes good. Really good.

Personally, I don’t automatically jump on whatever the current health bandwagon is just for the sake of. I want need my food to taste good first and foremost.

Cucumber Dill Salmon is one of my favorite ways to eat salmon and while other cucumber dill recipes call for mayonnaise, this one does not. You won’t believe how much flavor it has with so few ingredients and how quickly it goes from stove to table!

In the past, I’ve bought salmon both from my local supermarket and fish market, but for the last several years I stock up on it from Sam’s Club ~ yes Sam’s ~ the giant warehouse store where you can buy a new chair for the family room, prescription eyeglasses and a nice bottle of wine all under the same roof.

Sam’s Club is the last remaining source for buying salmon with the skin off ~ something other stores do not and since you’re paying by the pound, why pay for that thick, heavy skin you aren’t going to eat anyway?

And there’s such a big turnover at Sam’s that I know the salmon is always fresh. I buy a large filet, cut it into single serve pieces and freeze it.

We recently bought a vacuum sealer (for another post) which really keeps both fish and meat frozen for quite a while without freezer-burn.

I don’t want to turn this into Health Class 101 ~ I’m certainly not an expert ~ but I’d like to pass along that just one serving of salmon has 40 grams of protein and 106% of the daily recommendation of Vitamin B-12. Amazing!

I wasn’t familiar with B-12 until about a year ago when I complained to my doctor during an annual physical of ‘brain fogs’, fatigue and sluggishness. She recommended a daily dose of Vitamin B-12 and it’s helped quite a bit.

B-12 is also said to reduce stress, depression and even brain shrinkage.

The ingredients for this Cucumber Dill Salmon are minimal and pretty simple (not pictured, skim milk).

Cucumber Dill Salmon

Cucumber Dill Salmon

Ingredients:

Olive oil
3-4 salmon filets
Salt and pepper
1 lemon, cut in 6 wedges
1/3 cup of English cucumber cut in pea size cubes
4 oz. light (or Greek yogurt) cream cheese
2 tablespoons of fresh dill, minced
1/4 cup + an additional 2-3 tablespoons of skim milk

The fresh herbs make all the difference. I just discovered this Greek cream cheese and Greek yogurt combo at my local Kroger and like it really well. It looks, tastes and acts like ‘regular’ cream cheese, but if you can’t find it where you shop, any light cream cheese is great.

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees then using an oven-safe skillet, drizzle a tablespoon of so of olive oil in and warm over medium heat.

Pat moisture from salmon using a paper towel then season it with salt and pepper adding it to the skillet.

Sear the salmon on both sides (if your salmon has the skin on, sear only on side without the skin). Squeeze the juice from one lemon wedge over the top of the salmon pieces and bake the salmon 6-8 minutes or until it’s firm and cooked through.

Remove the salmon from the pan onto a serving platter and on top of the stove over low-medium heat, add the milk and cream cheese to the same skillet. Season the sauce with salt and pepper and using an ‘S’ motion, combine 1/4 cup of skim milk and the cream cheese (if the mixture is too thick for you, add more milk one tablespoon at a time).

Turn off the heat and stir in the diced cucumber and one tablespoon of the fresh dill then spoon the creamy dill sauce over the salmon filets, garnish with the additional dill and serve with a lemon wedge. Enjoy!

Instructions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

Using an oven-safe skillet, drizzle olive oil into the pan and warm over medium heat.

Pat moisture from salmon using a paper towel and season with salt and pepper.

Sear the salmon on both sides (if your salmon has the skin on, sear only on side w/o skin) then squeeze the juice from one lemon wedge over the top of the salmon pieces.

Bake the salmon 6-8 minutes or until it is firm and cooked through.

Remove the salmon from the pan onto a serving platter and on top of the stove over low-medium heat, add the milk and cream cheese to the same skillet then season with salt and pepper.

Using an 'S' motion, combine 1/4 cup of the skim milk and cream cheese (if the mixture is too thick, add more milk one tablespoon at a time).

Turn off the heat and stir in the diced cucumber and ONE tablespoon of the fresh dill. Spoon the creamy dill sauce over the salmon filets.

Garnish with the additional dill and serve with a lemon wedge.

Cucumber Dill Salmon

Recipe Source: Cucumber Dill Salmon

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