Grilled Salmon with Herb and Meyer Lemon Compound Butter

Don't let the recipe title fool you...this is an easy peasy recipe!  The salmon takes little effort to grill and the compound butter is a super simple thing that can even be made up a couple of days before you use it.
So, how does that sound? For those of you who are salmon lovers like we are, you will LOVE this dish!  I made some orzo pasta to set under the salmon and served a tasty-but-simple arugula salad.
We are super lucky to live down the street from our local fresh fish market, so I try to go for that any day over the store bought fish.  If you have the opportunity, try to buy wild caught salmon...it's good for you and the taste is incredible!  Oh, and don't feel like you need to find a meyer lemon, a regular lemon will work just fine!  Meyer lemons just have a little darker skin, almost orangish skin, and have a slightly sweeter lemony flavor.

Grilled Salmon with Herb and Meyer Lemon Compound Butter {adapted from HERE}

INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 stick butter, room temperature
• 1 meyer lemon, zested {regular lemon will do just fine too}
• 1 Tbsp. fresh thyme, finely chopped
• 1 small clove garlic, minced
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 4 {6 oz.} Salmon fillets with skin on
• extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

  In a small bowl, combine butter, zest, thyme, and garlic.  Mix everything well and season to taste with salt.  if using right away, keep at room temperature.  If making ahead, store in refrigerator, and bring to room temperature before serving.  

preheat grill to medium.  Let salmon come to room temperature first, then season with salt, pepper, and drizzle with olive oil.  Place salmon skin side down on preheated grill.  After 2-3 minutes, rotate the salmon 90 degrees.  Cook the salmon for another 3-4 minutes.  Turn the salmon over and cook for another 2-3 minutes.  Remove from the grill and top with the lemon compound butter.  The butter will act as a sauce and melt over and coast the grilled salmon.  I had some orzo pasta under the salmon and it made a yummy sauce for the pasta too!

Day 4 Sea Bass with Sauteed Vegetables

AHHH...DAY 4:

A.M:

Woke up early and started my day with a 3 mile run...felt like my legs had led in them!! It's really hard for me to put anything in my stomach (besides water) before 6:30 AM, so that is why I had the led-leg syndrome. When I got home I made a super satisfying strawberry, orange, banana smoothie (with protein powder). Gulped it down then headed out the door with some cut up cantaloupe in a baggie.

Lunch consisted of a mashed sweet potato and Spinach salad - cucumber, bell pepper, avocado with fresh lemon juice, olive oil and crushed garlic.

So far, day 2 of the cleanse has been pretty gentle to me. I hear it's day 3 that's the kicker...we'll see!

P.M:

I'm still craving carbs & lot's of them! Bread & butter, pasta, cookies, muffins, burgers, the list goes on. But my will-power is getting stronger and I'm really enjoying this time of treating my body good. It's given me some good reflections and some time to think about how a cleansing not only of the body, but the heart is often what I need...

So I went ahead and bought myself a nice fillet of fresh local sea-bass for dinner tonight. I have to say, fish has never tasted soooo good! I knew that I needed some substance in my diet otherwise my training will suffer (which it has been). This dinner was so good that I'm going to include the recipe below. I'm having some issues with downloading pics right now, but I'll add a picture soon! Sea Bass is a very mild flavor fish, white and flaky, not "fishy" tasting at all. It's a great choice if your unsure about how much you like fish. The local sea bass here is amazing!!

Sea Bass with sauteed vegetables (serves 2)

*adapted from Recipe courtesy David Rocco

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 (4-6 ounce) Sea Bass fillets
• sea salt and freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
• 1/2 purple onion, coarsely chopped
• 1 zucchini, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 pkg. white mushrooms, cut in quarters
• 1 large handful skinny Asparagus, cut in 2 in. pieces

Sweet Sour Sauce:

• 1 1/2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. honey

DIRECTIONS:

Season fish with sea salt and pepper. In a pan, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil and add the sea bass fillets. Cook for 3 minutes on each side or until the fish is just cooked through. Remove fish from pan and keep warm.

In same pan, heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil and add the vegetables. Cook until fork tender and season with salt and pepper to taste.

For sauce: in small sauce pan, heat extra virgin olive oil. Add balsamic vinegar and honey. Stir well and let reduce until sauce thickens.

Place each sea bass fillet over a bed of cooked vegetables. Drizzle with sauce and serve warm.