Sitka Salmon with Farro Salad
Recently Sitka Salmon Shares approached me about teaming up to create a recipe using seafood from their unique fishery co-op. Sitka Salmon Shares is a Community Supported Fishery (CSF) where members purchase their very own "shares" of the harvest. Similar to preorders or vegetable shares ordered through your favorite CSA (community supported agriculture), these purchases will then determine how much fish the local fishermen will go out and catch! After that, CSF members receive a monthly home seafood delivery - their "share" - of wild Alaskan catch, ranging from 4.5-5lbs per month for 3-9 months (April thru December) during the CSF season.
It's an amazing program that supports independent fisherman in Alaska and allows customers from all over the U.S. access to meticulously cleaned, vacuum-sealed frozen fish and seafood that tastes like it’s literally just been plucked from the wild waters of Alaska.
One of our favorite weeknight recipes is my everything bagel crusted salmon topped with a fresh, homemade tzatziki sauce – but I make it so often flavor boredom can sometimes kick in. My sous chef (Jeremy) is always challenging me to think outside the box when it comes to creating recipes and suggested that I make something that honors the freshness of the salmon while still using some of our favorite flavor combinations.
Instead of topping the salmon with everything bagel seasoning, I broke out my homemade everything bagel topped challah bread (gotta get my everything bagel in there somehow) and made a tzatziki-style farro salad with fresh cucumbers and tomatoes to go along with the simply prepared salmon. No offense to my favorite local restaurants making a great salmon dish, but I swear my recipe from Sitka tasted like I was eating where I could see the water the fish had just been caught. What I noticed was the true lack of “fishy” taste since it hadn’t been sitting in the standard plastic packaging. It was just clean notes of sea salt and a rich wild flavor.
The salmon is best prepared skin-on but you can always remove it later if that’s your preference. If you follow the recipe below, I promise you’ll have perfectly crispy skin that adds a nice buttery crackle to your fish that I promise you’ll love.
Ingredients:
Sitka Salmon Shares Coho Salmon
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 cup farro
1 cup of water
½ cup Greek yogurt
½ medium cucumber
1 roma tomato
1 garlic clove
Half lemon
Directions:
Salmon Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees
Defrost your fish overnight in the fridge or for 2-3 hours on the countertop, blot dry with a paper towel and coat both sides generously with salt and pepper
Preheat a cast iron skillet on medium-high heat with one tablespoon of olive oil
Add the salmon to the skillet skin-side down and sear for 5-7 minutes until skin is crispy and rendered
Put the skillet in the oven with the fish in it for 10-12 minutes until cooked through, the fish should feel firm but not hard
Farro Salad Directions
While your oven is preheating, prepare the farro as directed. I bring one cup of water to a rapid bowl, add the farro, cover and simmer until 10 minutes or done. You can also use chicken stock if you have it on-hand.
While the farro cooks, dice up the roma tomato and mince up the fresh clove of garlic
Using a vegetable grater, grate half of a medium cucumber into a cheesecloth and squeeze out as much water as possible
Combine shredded cucumber, tomato, garlic, yogurt and squeeze half a lemon with a pinch of salt and pepper
Add the farro to the tzatziki and tomato mixture and set aside in the fridge
*I use this challah recipe and top with Trader Joes’ Everything But the Bagel seasoning!
