Pesto Crunch Salmon

The wild caught Salmon at my local store has been a great price lately.  I'm really excited to share this recipe with you!  I wanted to try something new because I eat Salmon a lot and don't want to eat the same thing all of the time.  I came up with this rather quickly because I wanted a pine nut topping and what goes better with pine nuts than basil!  I didn't want to make a pesto marinade so instead decided to make a crunchy panko topping for the fish instead. 

Ingredients:
1 cup Rice
1 lb Salmon
10-15 leaves of Basil
4-5 tsp Pine Nuts
3-4 cloves Garlic
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
6 oz bag Baby Spinach
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Cook the rice to package directions, I use a small rice cooker. 

I started by mincing the basil.  I stacked the leaves and rolled them up.  I sliced down the leaves making julienne cuts and then ruffly chopped them. 

I added very little oil to my pan and tossed the pine nuts in.  Keep them moving so they don't burn, they cook quickly!

Once the pine nuts are lightly toasted, mince the heck out of them.  After you're done with the pine nuts, mince the garlic as well.

Add the basil, butter, panko, 1 Tbsp pine nuts, about half of the garlic, salt and pepper to a bowl. 

Mix well until uniform

Lightly salt and pepper the Salmon and top with panko.  Bake at 375 for about 45 minutes

Heat a pan and add about a tsp of olive oil to it.  Brown the garlic and then add the rest of the pine nuts.  Toast lightly again.  Remove the garlic and pine nuts from the pan and set aside. 

Add the spinach to the pan and continually stir to cook thoroughly.

In about a minute the spinach will be wilted.  Add the garlic and pine nuts back and toss to coat.  Depending on how much spinach you want per person you may want 2 bags, but 1 was enough for The Husband and myself. 

Remove the Salmon from the oven when it's toasty and brown!  It will continue to cook slightly still.

This was a really great meal with lots of flavor!