Tuesday, January 8, 2008

Skinny(er) Salmon with Dill Sauce

What a cliche' - a healthy recipe at the beginning of the new year! I am sure blogs all over the globe are devoting themselves to cleansing the stomach after a good month of gluttony. Josh and I are doing everything in moderation but I did feel the need to get some healthy protein back in our lives.

For those of you who have never seen or heard of the Eat, Shrink and Be Merry cookbook (they have a television show as well as several cookbooks) think of it as remakes of all your favorite recipes with less sugar and fat. I love the humourous anecdotes in the margins and the recipes are easy and simple.

In this case I was craving a fattening tartar sauce to go with our salmon. Maybe even a dill cream sauce. This is where I decided to try a recipe I have looked at for quite some time and never followed through. Josh marinated the salmon in lemon juice whisked with dijon mustard and some chopped dill for about an hour before we grilled it on our indoor grill. I think marinating is always a good idea but we have definitely just thrown the salmon steak on as is and ended up with a good result.

The sauce was extremely easy and, except for the dill, used ingredients found in my cupboard and fridge all the time. The result was a tangy sauce that offset the salmon very nicely and we will definitely make again to replace our beloved tartar sauce. As much as the idea of low fat or fat free sour cream turns people off, I did not even notice the difference in the sauce once the other flavors were mixed in.

In the picture you will see some dark spots on top of the salmon and the white dill sauce. That is Josh's addition of chipotle hot sauce because there are very few foods he eats without hot sauce. Believe it or not, it was actually quite good on top although I am not sure I would recommend that addition.

As an aside, I just received Bon Appetit February 2008 today and it looks like I am not the only one who is looking at the lower sugar and lower fat options in recipes. There is a fantastic article on using whole grains in baking as well as a few articles on the slow food movement. Definitely worth picking up this month!
Ciao!

Hook, Line & Simple ... or Creamy Dill Sauce for Salmon
Ingredients:
1/3c. light or fat free sour cream
2T. maple syrup
1T. dijon mustard or honey mustard
1T. fresh lemon juice
1T. minced fresh dill
1t. grated lemon zest
Directions:
Whisk together all the ingredients and serve very cold over freshly grilled or broiled salmon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love tartar sauce with my seafood. I'm going to give this a try. There's nothing wrong with lower fat versions as long as they taste good.

Emily said...

I saw that in Bon Appetite, too! Whole grains are hotter than ever.

I'm going to go healthy now, too. I've been postponing it for a week, or so. I didn't want to let go of the holidays!

Will have to try your salmon with dill sauce. Sounds good. I even like hot sauce!