Seared Salmon With Sauteed Corn and Smokey Tomato Relish

                                                                                                     

As we begin to see the last of the summer's local produce at the city's farmers markets, I find that each week I cannot resist gathering the remnants from the end of the season's harvest. With this in mind, I created this easy and flavorful salmon recipe that takes advantage of wonderful local sweet corn from Eden and ripe heirloom tomatoes from my garden.

Seared Salmon With Sauteed Corn and Smokey Tomato Relish

For the tomato relish:

2 cups fresh tomatoes diced

1 garlic clove finely minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons lemon zest

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

1/4 cup fresh parsley chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro chopped

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Mix all of the ingredients in a bowl and set aside. 

For the corn:

2 cups fresh corn kernels (about 3-4 ears)

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon sugar

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a hot saute pan. Add the corn and season with the sugar, salt and pepper. Saute the corn over high heat until lightly brown, about 4-5 minutes. Set aside.

For the salmon:

4 salmon filets 6 oz. each

4 tablespoons olive oil

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste 

Heat a non stick saute pan until hot but not smoking. Brush both sides of the salmon filets with olive oil and season each side with salt and pepper. Add the salmon to the hot saute pan and sear them on both sides, until each side develops a dark brown crust, about 3-5 minutes per side. 

To plate:

Spoon a mound the corn in the center of each of 4 plates. Place a salmon filet on each mound of corn and top each salmon filet with the tomato relish. Drizzle the collected tomato juices around the plate and over the salmon. Serves 4.

The components of this dish play off of each other beautifully. The crisp, sweet corn and smokey tomatoes are a wonderful balance to the richness of the salmon. Serve this dish with a simple salad and a chilled white wine, and you have an elegant meal.

As luck would have it there are still venders who bring fresh produce to our local farmers markets each week, so there is still time to gather these ingredients and prepare this quick, delicious and healthy recipe. 

 Enjoy!