Pan-Seared Salmon with Ponzu Spinach

This healthy salmon and spinach dish uses few ingredients (salmon, spinach, ponzu sauce, and garlic), involves one non-stick sauté pan, and cooks in under 10 minutes.

Ponzu sauce can be found in the Asian section of your grocery store.  It’s a combination of soy sauce, rice vinegar, citrus and dashi broth.  I’d show you the recipe, but let’s face it, if you can’t find ponzu you’re sure as heck not gonna find dashi!

Print this recipe:  Pan-Seared Salmon with Ponzu Spinach

Pan-Seared Salmon with Ponzu Spinach

makes 4 servings
recipe adapted from Big Bold Beautiful Food

4 salmon fillets, thawed

coconut or olive oil

salt and pepper

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 bag of spinach

1/4 cup ponzu sauce

Pat the fillets dry on both sides. Brush the top with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Take the spinach out the bag. Go through the spinach and remove any big stems and any pieces that are not fresh. Rinse in a colander or salad spinner.

Mince or crush the garlic.

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat until it's hot. You know it's hot if you hold your hand over the skillet and you can only hold it there for 2-3 seconds, or you can wet your hand and flick water into the pan. If water sizzles and evaporates when it hits the pan, it's hot.

When the skillet is hot, add the salmon fillets, oiled side down, making sure the fillets are not touching each other and there is some air circulation in between them. Depending on how thick they are, you'll cook them a few minutes on one side (see note), until the bottom edges get opaque. While the bottom side is cooking, brush the top side with oil and season with salt and pepper.

Flip over and let that side cook for a few minutes until center of fish is just opaque (see note). Remove from pan and set aside.

Add 1 tablespoon of oil into the skillet and swirl around. Add garlic, stir around once, and add spinach right away. If you can't fit all the spinach at once, add as much as you can, stir around until it wilts and then add the rest. Add the ponzu sauce and it will help the spinach wilt and cook. When all the spinach is wilted, turn off the heat.

Put some of the spinach on a plate and place the salmon on top of it.

Note:

• If you have a fillet that's about 1 1/2 inch thick, you'd cook it about 6 minutes on one side, flip it and cook for 4 minutes on the other side.
• If you have a fillet that's thinner, cook it less.
• You should take the fish off the heat when it's almost opaque but still a little translucent in the center. To check the color inside, stick a knife in the center and gently pull apart the flesh. The fish will continue cooking in its own heat when you take it off the stove and become fully opaque.