Healthy Mediterranean Pan Seared Salmon and Cous Cous

1. Chop all your dang veg. Rinse your salmon and pat it dry.

2. In small sauce pot, put 1/2 cup water on and bring to boil. Add 1/2 cup of cous cous, stir quickly, cover, and remove from heat. It will soak up the water.

3. Forget about the cous cous for a second. In a large skillet over medium high heat, dump in those 2 tbsp olive oil. Let it get nice and hot, and then pop in your minced garlic. DO NOT LET THAT GARLIC BURN. Just let it get happy and fragrant.

4. Dump in your grape tomatoes whole. Toss them around with the garlic and let them heat up. They’ll start to burst pretty shortly and when that happens move on to step 5. If it’s taking a while and your garlic is threatening to get cranky I am not against squooshing them a bit with a fork.

5. Add your chopped onion and saute until it sweats. Take a deep breath because it smells good.

6. Add the red pepper. Saute everything until the onions start to get transparent. Flip it all around to get that juice from the tomatoes on everything.

7. Place a smaller nonstick skillet onto another burner and turn on the heat to the higher end of medium high. You want to let that pan heat up. Leave it alone and go back to your veg.

8. When the onions get floppy and translucent, add your sliced zucchini. Stir it all around.

9. Turn down the heat to just below medium (medium low?) and cover the skillet. The juice from the tomatoes will simmer into everything and it will be good.

10. Remember that pan? That hot one over there? Place your salmon fillets in it, skin side down. Watch out, they’ll sizzle. DON’T WORRY it is not too hot. Salmon can take it; it’s a tough fish.

11. You have to use your eyes for this. Cook the salmon skin side down until it is light pink halfway up the side. You’ll see it! At that point, gently loosen the salmon with a spatula and flip it over. The skin will be a nice pretty brown.

12. While it cooks the second side, remove the skin carefully with a very sharp paring knife. You’ll see where it’s connected to the flesh; just make little sawing motions underneath, keeping the flat of the knife parallel to the pan. That salmon is probably spitting some liquid. Be careful not to get spattered. Use a long fork to hold it if you have to.

13. Keep an eye on your fish. It will need about 4 minutes after you flip it to get to medium rare, 5 or six to get to medium. After removing the skin and making sure it’s been the required time for doneness since you flipped it, FLIP IT AGAIN. This is a flip just to sear the now naked previously skinned side. It also let’s you get up in there to check doneness. Don’t let it cook after the second flip too long.

14. Take a fork and poke it in over the thickest part of the fish. Turn the fork slightly. If the fish is opaque, it’s done. It doesn’t have to be nearly white unless that’s how you like it. You could also forgo the forking and make the OK sign with one hand. Poke that bump of muscle under your thumb and feel the muscle. Now poke the fish. They should feel the same. If you have no idea what I’m talking about, use the fork, Luke. Remove from heat and let rest for a sec.

15. Dump your chiffonade of basil into your veg. Dump your chives in too. Give them a stir. Yumm.

16. Time to assemble! Remember that cous cous? Take the cover off and fluff it with a fork. Dump it into the tomatoey veg concoction and stir it up. I really just like the cous cous for texture, so it won’t look like there’s much in there but it will be good. Spoon a ton of that goodness onto plates.

17. Lay your fillet on top of that delicious mound. Serve with a glass of chardonnay if you’re feeling fancy. If you’d rather red, I would go with a pinot noir.

18. Eat that thing.