Pan-Fried Salmon with Citrus Vinaigrette

I am going to make a confession... I am dorky enough to spend my lunch breaks at work browsing through cooking websites! I have lost track of time and wound up having to stay late on more than one occasion. The Cooking Light website is a favorite, especially if I have a new item or ingredient and I want some ideas for how to cook it. A couple weeks ago we did an office order at work and I now have a freezer stuffed full of Salmon, Tilapia, Sole, Scallops, Sardines and Shrimp. So get ready! You are going to start seeing a lot of seafood recipes...

I was browsing Salmon recipes last week and found this one for Pan-Fried Salmon with Citrus Vinaigrette. The ingredients to make it cost me under $3 since i already had the Salmon, so it was dinner tonight. It was quick, super flavorful, healthy, pretty (yes, it does make me happy when my food is pretty) and it made my kitchen smell like summer-time! This one will definitely be a "keeper" for me.

Pan-Fried Salmon with Citrus Vinaigrette

1/4 c. fresh orange juice
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
2 T fresh lime juice
1 medium shallot, minced
2 T snipped chives ( I used the green ends of scallions because they were cheaper!)
Salt and freshly ground pepper
3 T light olive oil
4 salmon fillets

- In a small saucepan, combine the juices and simmer over medium heat until reduced by 1/2.
- On a side-note, recipes that tell me to simmer until something reduces by 1/2 make me nervous. I can never tell when something has reduced by 1/2. Lots of times I can't tell if it has reduced at all. So don't stress over this. I simmered for about 15 minutes until I thought it kind of looked like less liquid than I had started with and called that good enough!
- Pour the hot juices into a separate bowl or pouring vessel and add the shallot, chives and olive oil and stir.
- Now... The title of this recipe says the salmon is "pan-fried" and you can do it that way if you want to. But if, like me tonight, it happens to be 7pm and you are super hungry and you really don't want to babysit two dishes on the stove at once and if you don't have a strong need to follow directions exactly, you could cheat and just stick the fillets in a dish under the broiler. This worked beautifully for me tonight and I had dinner in under 20 minutes. Broiling times will differ based on the size of the fillet. I had pretty thin fillets so I just had them in there on low for 7 minutes.
- Also if you are not familiar with cooking Salmon, take note that the skin will stay pink, even after it has cooked. We are used to cooking things until they are no longer pink and I completely killed the first Salmon fillets I ever cooked because I kept waiting for them to turn white. Once Salmon is cooked, the pink will turn more opaque and you'll see a little bit of white substance (good healthy oils) seeping out of the sides. You will know that it is done when it flakes with a fork.
- Top the salmon fillets with sauce and enjoy!

This sauce is really tangy. I thought the strong flavors of citrus and shallot were perfect with the strong fish flavor of Salmon.

Hope you enjoy!!