It’s true.

A light, healthy, fresh & summery meal for one (which can easily be adapted to 2, 3, 4 or more) in UNDER 15 minutes.

Wild Salmon with Lemon CousCous!

This recipe was actually inspired by zee lovely husband, and is so quick and satisfying that this is the second time I’ve made it in a week (the first was during DC recaps!) Before we start this ridiculously quick cooking process, let me introduce:

The Cast…

Juice of 1 lemon, divided

1/4 cup golden couscous

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons olive oil, divided

Salt & pepper

1/4 cup chopped asparagus

1/2 cup fresh sweet corn

2 cups baby spinach

4oz wild salmon

The Crew…

1 small saucepan

1 small skillet

1 medium skillet

Mmmkay. Introductions are over. Ready? Let’s cook in 3…2…1!

First heat a teaspoon of olive oil in the medium sized skillet over medium heat.

Add the asparagus and toss to coat. Keep ‘em cooking, stirring every so often.

Meanwhile, bring the water and juice of half a lemon to a boil in the sauce pan.

Add in the couscous, give the pan a little swirl,

 

then pop on a lid, turn off the heat and remove the pan to a cool burner. No need to come back – the couscous portion of the program is done.

And we’re only 3 minutes and 30 seconds into the program!

Next add the sweet corn and some salt & pepper to the asparagus. Toss to coat and let it continue to cook.

Then get the salmon ready. Ben and I prefer the taste of wild salmon over farm-raised. It’s a little – ok a lot – more pricey than it’s counterpart, but we feel it’s worth it. Oh yeah, we get our salmon at Costco. It’s SO fresh, believe it or not!

Heat 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil in the small skillet on medium-high heat, then drizzle the flesh side of the salmon with 1/2 teaspoon olive oil, salt & pepper.

Lay it skin-side down in the skillet and cook until it turns pink about half way up the filet. The time this will take depends on how thick your filet is but, in general, I just flip it when it turns pink about half way up.

Flip then cook for another minute or two,

then add in the juice of the other lemon half.

When the juice has all but evaporated, carefully lift up a corner of the skin with a fork and peel it off. You can totally leave it on, but I prefer it off. It’s a personal choice every person has got to make!

Look, we’re not even at 10 minutes yet!

Meanwhile, in the veggie skillet, add the spinach and toss until it’s wilted.

It should only take a minute or so.

Next, pour the cooked couscous into the veggies, toss to combine…

then plate!

YEEHAW! From the fridge to the plate in less than 15 minutes!

Can we talk about how much I love the flavors in this dish? Super bright lemon, sweeeeeet, sweet corn and fresh & lemony salmon. Total feel good food!

The idea for this meal actually came after Ben and I returned from 4 days of eating out at restaurants in DC and needed something a.) healthy b.) light and c.) prepared at home.

I asked Ben what he thought would fit the bill and he said, “salmon…cous…vegetables…” Done!

If you don’t like salmon, you could easily make this with chicken or tofu. Give it a whirl – you can’t say you don’t have the time!

Plus I bet this would go even quicker for the sane person who isn’t taking rapid-fire pictures of their food while they cook – aka YOU!

In other news, I braved the heat for a 3.5 mile run this afternoon and nearly had to army crawl my way up the driveway 30 minutes later. HAHahaha….sob! AKA, this girl is down for the count for the rest of the evening, although I may need to hop up at some point to experiment with a no-bake chocolate peanut butter cookie idea that appeared to me in a shimmery, heat wave vision on my run…

See ya’!

~~~~~

Do you like seafood or shellfish?

I love salmon for its versatility but I ADORE jumbo scallops. MMM! Could eat them all day long!