Caramelized Leeks with Roasted Salmon Fillets

    

As a way to get our fish in (and using our Wegman's club pack of salmon), we made caramelized leeks with roasted salmon fillets.  It seemed like an easy weeknight meal and I was right.  All you have to do is caramelize the leeks and then cook the salmon and it's a snap!

Washing the leeks thoroughly are a MUST MUST MUST. Leeks are dirty, especially in between the layers, so look at the video here to see how to clean and prepare leeks.  This recipe also uses very few ingredients, so if you're the type of person who won't look at a recipe with more than 10 ingredients, then this is for you.  

You probably can't tell but we served this with cabbage and noodles. Which is either a Polish thing or just a thing my husbands' family makes.  We had leftover cabbage from another non-CL recipe (gasp! I know), so we made this on the side to use it up.  

We cooked the salmon in the toaster oven, so this recipe is friendly for those living in a small space.

As of today's post 7 people rated this a 5 out of 5. 

Recipe by Laura Zapalowski, Cooking Light, March 2008

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 2  leeks
• 1 1/2  teaspoons  butter
• 1  teaspoon  light brown sugar
• 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt, divided
• 1/2  teaspoon  fresh lemon juice
• 4  (6-ounce) salmon fillets
• Cooking spray
• 1/4  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1/8  teaspoon  ground red pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Remove roots, outer leaves, and tops from leeks. Cut leeks in half lengthwise. Rinse thoroughly with cold water, and cut each half into 3-inch julienne strips.
3. Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add leeks to pan; cook 4 minutes or until slightly wilted, stirring occasionally. Stir in brown sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook 20 minutes or until edges are browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in juice. Keep warm.
4. Place salmon on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray; sprinkle salmon with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon red pepper. Bake salmon at 400° for 8 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness. Place 1 fillet on each of 4 plates; top with 2 tablespoons leek mixture.

Nutritional Information

Calories: 320 (39% from fat)

Fat: 13.9g (sat 2.8g,mono 4.5g,poly 5.1g)

Protein: 39.2g

Carbohydrate: 7.6g

Fiber: 0.9g

Cholesterol: 111mg

Iron: 2.5mg

Sodium: 339mg

Calcium: 51mg