As I’m sure you’re aware, today is the first day of Lent. Did anybody go out and celebrate Fat Tuesday last night? Are you struggling this morning from your wild night full of mardi gras beads and one or two too many drinks? Eek. If you consider getting your butt kicked at yoga sculpt, an uber healthy dinner, and watching some Glee and New Girl a celebration…then yes, I celebrated too. I’m a real partier…
I know lots of people try to eat healthy this time of year. Maybe they even gave up chocolate or sweets. Yikes! Giving up chocolate would be so hard! Hats off to you guys! I am one of those people trying to eat healthy, just trying to lose a few lbs before spring. For those of you who stick to meatless Fridays, this is a great AND healthy option. Salmon is a great fish to make because it takes so little to make it taste fabulous. A couple of fresh ingredients and you’re all set. Kara and I had been waiting a long time to find Meyer lemons at the grocery store. When we finally did we bought like 8 of them. But regular lemons would work too.
Note: I understand that this recipe calls for a stick of butter. We made 3 salmon fillets and cut the amount of butter in half…and we had some butter leftover. The amount of butter we used was plenty for us. So the amount of Lemon Compound Butter you make really depends on your own tastes.
Here's what you'll need. Forgot to picture the olive oil...sorry
Combine butter, garlic, zest, dill and thyme
Brush each piece of salmon with olive oil. Season with salt Please excuse my CK sweatshirt...circa 1990
Wrap the butter up into a log and refrigerate until ready to use
Grill the salmon for 3 minutes then turn 90 degrees and continue to grill for 2 more minutes
Then flip them over and grill for 2 more minutes. Look at those perfect grill marks!
Put 2 slices of the compound butter on top of the cooked salmon and allow it to melt
Doesn't it look great? And healthy too...
Ingredients
1 stick butter, room temperature
2 Meyer lemons, zested
½ bunch dill, chopped
½ bunch thyme, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
4 (6-ounce) salmon fillets, skin-on
extra virgin olive oil, for brushing on the salmon
salt, to taste
Directions
In a small bowl, combine butter, lemon zest, herbs and garlic. Mix until well combined. Lay out a piece of plastic wrap and place the butter on top. Roll up the plastic wrap, twisting it closed on both side. Form into a log. Keep at room temperature if you’re using right away, otherwise put in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before using.
Preheat grill pan to medium. Remove the salmon from the refrigerator and let it come to room temperature. Brush salmon fillets with olive oil then season with salt. Spray the grill pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place the salmon, skin side down, on the preheated grill. After 3 minutes, rotate the salmon 90 degrees to create cross-hatch grill marks on the salmon skin. Cook for 2 to 3 more minutes.
Turn the salmon over and cook 2 to 3 more minutes. Remove salmon from the grill pan and top with room temperature compound butter. The butter should melt over the hot salmon and coat the fish.
Source: adapted from Anne Burrell
I love compound butters. Lemon compound butter sounds perfect for salmon too. This is wonderful!