The only regret I have when I cook salmon is that I live in Iowa. Some day, I will have a fresh Chinook salmon flown in from Pike’s Place Market in Seattle. That or hope that my niece Kelly is kind enough to send me a fresh caught Alaskan salmon on her next Alaskan fishing trip. But C’est la vie… I live in Iowa. I’m stuck with frozen fish, but as Susan said, “I’d rather eat frozen fish than no fish at all.”

Here is what I did with the frozen filets I had in my freezer.

Pecan Encrusted Salmon with Dijon Butter

Ingredients

¼ cup butter, melted
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 ½ tablespoons honey
¼ cup dry bread crumbs
¼ cup finely chopped pecans
4 teaspoons chopped fresh parsley
4 (4 ounce) filets salmon
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon, for garnish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F°.

2. In a small bowl, stir together butter, mustard, and honey. Set aside. In another bowl, mix together bread crumbs, pecans, and parsley.

3. Brush each salmon fillet lightly with honey mustard mixture, and sprinkle the tops of the fillets with the bread crumb mixture. Lightly press the bread crumb mixture into the fillets

4. Bake salmon 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Season with salt and pepper and spoon more Dijon butter over the filet, and garnish with a wedge of lemon.

Lemony Dill Peas

Ingredients

1 cup water
2 cups frozen green peas
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp dried dill
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
Black pepper to taste

1. Add water to a medium-sized pot and bring the water to a boil, covered. Add the peas, cover partially, and let boil for about 4 minutes.

2. Remove from heat, drain (water can be reserved for making vegetable broth if desired), and rinse the peas with cold water (to stop cooking). Return the peas to the pot and stir in the lemon juice, dill, and mustard. Season to taste with black pepper. Serve immediately.