Salmon with brown butter cucumbers

Care of Melissa Clark, NYTimes.

I don’t think I’ve ever had a dish with warm cucumbers prior to this, but the brown butter cucumbers are a nice touch.

Calorie Estimate: 400-500

Ingredients

• 1 T butter
• 1 fillet of salmon (6-8 oz)
• salt (~1 t) and pepper (~ 2 t)
• 1/2 large cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced (1/4 inch)
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 t dried dill (0r 1 T fresh)
• lemon juice to taste

Preparation

1. In a heavy skillet, melt butter over medium high heat (6.5 on my ceramic flat-top stove) until the foam subsides and it browns (about 3 minutes).
2. Season salmon with salt and pepper.  Place in the pan, skin side up.  Cook without moving for about 3 minutes.
3. Add in cucumber pieces,  move salmon around a bit and mix cucumbers into butter, moving them often.   Cook for about 1-2 more minutes.  Be careful not to burn the top of the salmon.
4. Flip salmon over, cook skin side down without moving much for 3 more minutes.
5. Take salmon out of the pan, add dill and lemon juice to cucumbers.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Stir around about 10 seconds, and then serve over the fish.

This goes well with some bread to mop up the skillet and the plate, perhaps with a small, lightly-dressed side salad.

Meal Salad (800-900 calories)

Salad mix, dressing, cheese, bread, protein (smoked salmon, chicken breast, flank steak, sausage, etc; about 350 calories)