Lemon Panko Salmon

I am so burnt out on Thanksgiving. No more hot and mushy bland food, please! Time for something totally different - like a bright lemony flavored crunchy crusty piece of salmon!

We are so lucky to have Coastal Seafoods in the Twin Cities. If you like fish and/or seafood, there is no better source for the freshest stuff around. Plus, the workers are always super helpful (and as I've mentioned, smoking hot). And if that isn't enough to entice you to stop by, then you should at least peruse the awesome treasure trove of recipes on their website.

Alicia introduced me to the Coastal Seafoods recipe site and I've gotten lost browsing there. She emailed me this recipe and I was very excited to try it because of it's simplicity and because it sounded absolutely delicious. And, it was both - super simple and very good! I like that I didn't have to try to dredge the fish in the breading. Instead you just pour the buttery bread crumbs over the top of the fish and throw the whole pan in the oven.

The smell of the garlic and lemon was intoxicating (or maybe that was the big glass of wine?). Too intoxicating I guess, because I forgot to take a photo of my beautiful food until most of it was in my belly. Served with some buttered wheat artisan bread and roasted broccoli and grape tomatoes, this was one of the best meals I've had in a long time.

There was a LOT of salmon leftover, so I flaked up the remainder and made beautiful salmon cakes with the addition of a couple beaten eggs and a few more bread crumbs. I froze the salmon cakes for future use. What a great way to put some closure to Thanksgiving for another year.

Lemon Panko Salmon, from Coastal Seafoods

1.5 - 2 lb salmon filet

1 1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced (I substituted 1 tsp dried parsley)

1 Tbsp dried basil (I omitted this because I didn't have any)

3 Tbsp finely grated parmesan cheese

1 lemon, zested

2 Tbsp melted butter

pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees and lightly oil or butter a baking sheet. Place salmon on sheet, skin side down. Lightly coat salmon with 1 Tbsp olive oil or melted butter.

Combine panko, garlic, parsley, basil, cheese, zest, salt, and melted butter. Mix well. Pour over fish and pat into place.

Bake 8 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.

ONE YEAR AGO: More Vegetable Than Egg Frittata