Salmon in a Couscous Crust for Tyler Florence Fridays

With the optional Ultimate Fish Tacos recipe, this is a two-Tyler recipe week, and since my regular TFF pick this week is salmon, it's a two-fish week as well. I chose Tyler's Salmon in a Couscous Crust because it is healthy and has some of my very favorite ingredients; pine nuts, capers and lemon. Tyler is a genius at combining flavors and textures and this recipe is no exception. You can find it on the Food Network site here.

Salmon in a Couscous Crust

How to boil Water, Tyler Florence

(Makes 2 servings)

1/2 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons coarsely chopped green olives
2 tablespoons capers, chopped
3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
1 lemon, juiced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups couscous (see note)
2 (6-ounce) salmon fillets skinned
2 cups water
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together the parsley, raisins, olives, capers, pine nuts, olive oil, and lemon juice and season with salt and pepper; stir in the couscous to moisten completely and season generously with salt and pepper.

Put the salmon in a single layer in a smallish buttered gratin dish or baking dish (bottom measured 10 by 7 1/4 inches; 2.8 liter); the fillets should not touch one another. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with a little olive oil.


Now spoon the couscous mixture over the top of the fish so that it completely covers them and fills in the whole dish at the same time.


Pour over the water. Drizzle with olive oil. Put the dish in the oven and bake 25 minutes. Use a large spoon to spoon out the salmon and the couscous.


Note: 1 cup couscous plus 1 1/3 cups water is a better quantity to serve 2 if you have a smaller gratin dish or baking dish (remaining quantities are the same).

Notes/Results: Delicious! Wonderful flavors and textures with moist fish and slightly "crusty" couscous, what could be better?! The salty tang of the olives and capers with the sweetness of the raisins and the nuttiness of the pine nuts is great together. One thing, there is WAY more couscous than is needed. (I probably should have read the bottom note and the recipe reviews that said to reduce the couscous BEFORE making this). As the recipe is written, you end up with couscous for four and fish for two. No matter, I love couscous and will use it up. I did end up using a whole wheat couscous--might as well get a little additional fiber in. I reduced a bit of the olive oil but really this is a healthy dish as is. In the future, I will leave the pine nuts whole (the recipe says to chop them), as I would rather have a touch more crunch from the larger pieces. Since the grain and protein are in one dish, a side of veggies or a salad are all you need. I served mine with sauteed broccolini. It is not the most gorgeous recipe to plate but it is really good--another winner from Tyler.

You can check out what wonderful Tyler recipes the other TFF members made this week and what they thought of them by going to the Tyler Florence Fridays site here. 

Happy Aloha Friday!