Grilled/Baked Salmon with Tuscany Beans & Heirloom Tomatoes

Today's recipe comes from my favorite cooking magazine, Clean Eating. We had a big Coho salmon filet sitting in our freezer, so I decided I'd try this recipe out and defrost it. Also, Sprouts - probably my favorite store of all time - had some lovely, sweet little baby heirloom tomatoes on sale 2 for $5, which was quite a deal considering their regular-sized heirlooms were $3.99 per pound, each of them weighing about a pound! The babies were also a little less ripe than their big mommas and also offered quite a nice variety of colors. :)


Baked Salmon
Although the original recipe calls for grilling the salmon, which I'm sure would be absolutely delicious, I baked mine because our grill is just so sticky.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

4 4 to 6 oz. salmon filets
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 shallots, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 oz. capers, drained and rinsed well.

In a bowl, blend oil, vinegar, shallots, garlic, and capers with a whisk. Now it is time to prepare the fish...
My fish had a wonderfundle surprise: bones! If you have ever gone fishing and eaten whatever you managed to catch, you will most likely be familiar with fish and their bones. They are not like human bones, which you can pretty obviously see. No, they are sneaky, and hide deep within the flesh of your dinner! These tiny bones, which are sometimes left in fresh fish filets (say that five times fast) when sold, are called pin bones, and if you don't remove them, they will prick you in the mouth...like a pin. Lucky for my family, I decided to molest my fish a little before marinating it. And found the bones. Because honestly if I had not poked my filets a little, I would have had no idea there were bones left in!

Those tiny white vein-looking things are really bones.

You can see this bone poking out a little.

One bone. There are many of these little guys in there, so search thoroughly.

Removing the pin bones is easy: gently press your salmon filets where you see the vein-like things above. You should feel something that feels a little poky. Just grab it and yank that sucker out, and discard it into your trash bowl.

It already looks good, and it's not even cooked yet!

Once you have successfully boned your fish like a true pro (you may have not even needed to bone it in the first place), go ahead and lather on half of your marinade. Sprinkle the fish with fresh or dried dill (I used fresh, because fresh herbs look pretty and smell and taste great). Cover your container and put it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes so that all those nice juices can seep into the salmon. Then, place it on a broiler pan and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-20 minutes, until the fish flakes with a fork. Reserve the remaining marinade, because it will go into the...

Tuscany Bean Salad

Half recipe of salmon marinade (above)
1/2 onion, THINLY sliced
1 large red or orange bell pepper
1 1/2 packages of baby heirloom tomatoes, or two large regular heirlooms
1 can (15-16oz.) great northern, white kidney, or cannelini beans, drained and rinsed.

How could you say no to these little cuties?

In a large mixing bowl, combine the beans, onions, and bell pepper. I may have used less than half an onion, because really, who likes raw onions besides my grandpa's childhood dog and my older brother? Not a lot of people.
Dress the salad with the remaining salmon marinade.
Some of your little babies (tomatoes) will be very small and not require any slicing, while others will be a bit large and require quartering. Just do what you think will work. Once diced, add them to your salad and gently toss them.

I served my fish and bean salad with some baked baby red potatoes. I stabbed them a little with a fork, then microwaved them until they were fork-tender. We then rolled them in some olive oil, salt, fresh ground pepper, and some fresh dill left over from the salmon recipe. Yum!