Grilled Salmon, Pancetta & Ranch Packets
I love salmon, and bacon, and ranch...so this was like love at first sight. The original Rachael Ray recipe called for bacon, but I used pancetta instead. I had some Boar's Head pancetta on hand (delicious) and I highly suggest using that if possible. It had so much more flavor than regular bacon. It's pretty salty, so if you use pancetta, I would not add anymore salt. The recipe also called for an outdoor grill to cook this, but my high-rise doesn't quite allow that -- so I opted for baking it. It was so tender and delicious! (I halved this recipe, didn't exactly "measure" the toppings, and had the nice seafood man at Teeter take the skin off for me!)
Ingredients
Four 6-ounce, 1-inch-thick salmon fillets, skin on and at room temperature
1/2 cup good ranch dressing (I've fallen in love with Cindy's Kitchen Buttermilk Ranch - Whole Foods)
1/4 pound pancetta, cooked and crumbled
1/4 crumbled feta cheese
2 tomatoes, chopped
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut four 8-by-12-inch sheets of heavy-duty foil. Place each salmon fillet skin side down on a sheet; season with pepper, top each with 2 tablespoons ranch dressing, 1 tablespoon pancetta and 1 tablespoon feta. Fold up the sides of the foil, leaving the top exposed.
Place in the oven on a broiler sheet and cook until almost opaque in the thickest part, approximately 10 minutes. Serve topped with the tomatoes.
Roasted Carrots & Asparagus (best to do this before cooking the salmon) In an attempt to eat more meat and vegetables, I decided to roast some carrots and asparagus. This was very simple -- trim the carrots and asparagus, spray a baking dish with PAM, cover vegetables with a drizzle of olive oil, a dash of salt, pepper and italian seasoning, drizzle with balsamic vinegarette. Bake at 375 for approximately 25 minutes. Cover with foil to keep warm if necessary.