Good morning! Welcome back to Monday’s Light and Tasty recipe! Today I have for you a fish main course, a piece of pan-fried salmon with cherry tomatoes and green olives, a main dish ready in a quarter of an hour that can also be a great one-dish meal if you add bread for the obligatory dipping, and which can, if needed, become a pasta sauce (do you remember the cod sauce?), simply by breaking or flaking the salmon after cooking. 😉 Here, we can say that pan-fried salmon with cherry tomatoes is a dish for all occasions, do you agree?
As you well know, cooking fish at my house is sometimes a bit… uh, thorny. 😅 When in Light and Tasty we chose the theme fish and shellfish, I really didn’t know which recipe to pick since fish isn’t a very frequent food at my home, especially now that the children live far away. Salmon is one of the few fish (only three!) that my husband — who notoriously doesn’t eat fish — manages to eat (albeit rarely; let’s say not more than once a year or so).
Yes indeed, and now after this salmon with cherry tomatoes… my salmon quota for this year is used up! 😄
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Ahhhhh how forgetful! I forgot to tell you that today is the birthday of my beloved blog! Today it turns 12 years old! 🤩 Among the salmon recipes on the blog I suggest these three, 👇 try them!
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Budget
- Preparation time: 10 Minutes
- Portions: 2
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All seasons
Ingredients
- 9 oz salmon steak
- 10 cherry tomatoes
- 6 green olives
- Half onion
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- oregano (to taste)
- pepper
Tools
- Frying pan
- Lid
- Cutting board
- Knife / Scraper / Descaler
Steps
The ingredients for the recipe:
Gently rinse the salmon steak and pat it dry with paper towels.
👉 If the steak has the skin, that’s better, it helps keep the fish intact during cooking. The skin can be easily removed after cooking.
Carefully check that the salmon is free of bones; if present, remove them with tweezers.
Descale the salmon skin using a fish scaler or a knife.
Cut the cherry tomatoes and the olives in half.
Slice the onion.
Place the vegetables and the salmon in a nonstick frying pan.
Season with a drizzle of oil and oregano to taste.
Turn on the stove and cover the pan with the lid.
Cook for about 10 minutes over medium-low heat, then open the lid, stir the vegetables and, if desired, flip the salmon steak using a spatula.
☝ I usually flip it, but this time I didn’t to be sure not to break it and to be able to photograph it intact. 😉
Close the lid again and complete cooking for another 5 minutes (consider that the total cooking time may depend on the thickness of the steak).
Serve very hot, finishing with a drizzle of oil at the end.
🔹 If you want a juicier sauce, you can cook the cherry tomatoes for 5–10 minutes before adding the salmon to the pan.
🔸 You can replace the onion with one or two cloves of garlic.
🔹 You can deglaze the salmon with half a glass of white wine.
🔸 To prevent the salmon from sticking to the pan it’s best to lay the steak on the skin side first.
🔹 For the salmon to stay tender and juicy, a short cooking time over medium-low heat is preferable. A longer cooking time or high heat can make the salmon drier, without compromising flavor or properties. It can also cause the release of albumin.
What is albumin: it is a protein that can coagulate (due to heat, if above 149°F) and come out of the muscle tissue. It appears as a white film (and yes, perhaps you noticed a little of it in the photos of this recipe), but it is not harmful; indeed it should not be removed because, after all, it is a protein.
Salt-free tips
I remind you that I cook without added salt. 😊
If you are interested in reducing or eliminating salt, always remember to:
▣ Reduce salt gradually — the palate must get used to it slowly and should not notice the progressive reduction.
▣ Use spices: chili, pepper, curry, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves, cumin…
▣ Use aromatic herbs: basil, parsley, oregano, thyme, sage, marjoram, rosemary, mint…
▣ Use seeds: sesame, pine nuts, almonds, walnuts…
▣ Use pungent vegetables or fruit: garlic, onion, lemon, orange…
▣ Use my salt-free vegetable granulate and gomasio.
▣ Prefer fresh foods.
▣ Avoid boiling; prefer cooking methods that do not disperse flavors (griddle, foil, steam, microwave).
▣ Avoid putting a salt shaker on the table!
▣ Allow yourself an occasional indulgence. It’s good for the mood and helps you persevere.
If you don’t want to, or cannot, give up salt:
▣ You can still try my recipes and salt them according to your habits.
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Light and Tasty
The recipes from my colleagues:
Carla Emilia: Perch fillet with parsley and Taggiasca olives
Claudia: Shrimp in prosecco cooked in a pan
Elena: Chickpea cream with prawns
Milena: Pan-fry of prawns, swordfish, Roman broccoli and capers
