Tonight’s dinner was fresh, creamy yet bright; in perfect harmony. All is good with the world and I must share my treasure with you.

We have a small elevated garden 19′ x 7′ in our backyard, as well as herbs growing around all of the trees. We love it when we can harvest parts or all of our dinner from the garden. You definitely can’t get it cheaper, fresher or with better all around quality. When we are fixing dinner we will periodically tell our oldest he needs to go to the market to get whatever herbs, spices or veggies we need for the night’s meal. He always looks at us askew until he realizes we are talking about harvesting whatever we need from our little garden market where you get the freshest and highest quality selection.

Since it’s winter, we’re growing swiss chard (both red and green), arugula, lettuce, cilantro and various herbs and spices, i.e. thyme, rosemary, oregano, & sage. All of these have volunteered over the last several years, are unbelievably hardy and packed with flavor. Every cook needs a little patch of earth to grow their own herbs and spices, but I digress. We’re talking about dinner, salmon to be precise.

Our local market generally has an excellent supply of fish. Look at this beautiful side of Atlantic Salmon we found.

It was so pretty we bought it. Now, once we bought it we had to do something with it. So, first, we cut it down to 6 oz individual filets.

Once appropriately cut into individual pieces, we have to figure out what we are fixing for dinner. Thankfully, it’s fish so it won’t take long. After discussing the matter with Baby Lady, we decided a garden dinner was the way to go. Robert (Quickstep), our oldest son, went to the family market and harvested some oregano, thyme and rosemary.

Next he selected some beautiful arugula for the Pistou

Game on. Garden Fresh Herbs with an Arugula Pistou. The tomatoes and citrus were needed for some acid, brightness and color to the dish. I would eat this again. Hopefully, you will give it a try. It makes a beautiful meal and is full of flavor.

Ingredients

For the Salmon

• 4 6 oz Salmon Filets, skinned
• 2 Tbsp oil
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered

For the Crust

• 1 Tbsp fresh oregano
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme
• 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

For the Pistou

• 2 cups fresh arugula, stemmed
• 1/2 cup high quality extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 lime, zested
• 1/2 lime juiced

Instructions

For the Herb Crust

Stem rosemary, thyme and oregano and place in a spice mill.

Mince, add 1/2 tsp salt and mix together. Set aside.

For the Pistou

Place the arugula, lime and lemon zest in food processor. Add the juice of the lemon and lime.

Pulse until you have a course chop. Next add pine nuts.

Pulse and add Parmesan Cheese.

Pulse again to incorporate. Now, add the olive oil while the food processor is running to fully incorporate and puree the mixture.

When you’re done you should have a mixture like this.

Beautiful color. Set aside until plating.

For the Salmon

Season the salmon filets with the crust on both sides.

Preheat a heavy bottom skillet. When skillet has gotten hot add 2 Tbsp oil to the pan. It should smoke almost immediately.

Add the salmon filets to the skillet.

Reduce heat and cook for 2 – 3 minutes (depending upon how well done you like your salmon). When you see the sides of the filets begin to turn a pinkish/white color turn the filets and cook the other side.

Cook another 2 minutes. This will give you a nice medium cooked salmon. If you want it cooked completely through, cook another minute. Remove from heat and plate.

To Plate

Place salmon filets on a plate. Pour 1 Tbsp of the Pistou on top of each filet and top with the quartered grape tomatoes. Serve & enjoy.