Basil, Ginger & Pine Nut Crusted Salmon

I love doing crusted fish; it adds such a great texture, and you can do so much with different flavors. Last night, I decided on one of my favorite flavor combinations--basil, ginger, garlic & pine nut. It's pretty much a pesto coating, with ginger added for an extra little kick. I used my immersion blender attachment to grind everything into a paste, smeared it on the salmon, then baked it open in the oven. Yum!

P.S. I made this recipe with macadamia nuts over Passover and it was a huge hit. You can also use one whole fillet rather than a few smaller ones.

Basil, Ginger & Pine Nut Crusted Salmon

Ingredients:

12 large basil leaves
1/4 cup raw pine nuts
1 garlic clove, peeled
1-inch piece of ginger, peeled
1/8 tsp salt
pinch black pepper
1 tsp olive oil
fresh salmon (about 16 ounces)

Directions:

1. Finely chop ingredients (excluding salmon) by hand or grind in an immersion blender.
2. Place salmon on a baking sheet, spread basil-nut crust over fish, and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until salmon is cooked to your preference.

The cost:
basil: 1.99
nuts: 4.99
ginger: .89
salmon: 8.99

Grand total: $16.86; serves 2 + lunch tomorrow

Pine Nut, Parsley & Mustard Seed Crusted Salmon

My Penzey's purchase this past weekend also included a bag of yellow mustard seeds (smells like pickles, or rather pickles smell like it because it's a common pickling spice! A little spicy, a little bitter, really great flavor). After browsing the internet for some uses, I decided to use it to crust fish; I wanted to make sure there was enough texture so I added pine nuts, and for color and flavor: Parsley, ginger, garlic, salt and pepper (sort of like a parsley pesto--I should try it with basil next time!).

Pine Nut, Parsley & Mustard Seed Crusted Salmon

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon fillet
2 Tbsp pine nuts, coarsely crushed
2 Tbsp mustard seed, coarsely crushed
1 Tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 garlic clove, finely minced
1 Tbsp chopped parsley
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
pinch of cracked black pepper

Directions:

1. Place fish skin-side down on a baking sheet.
2. Roughly blend together remaining ingredients to form a paste  (I used my immersion blender attachment, but you can also finely chop everything then mix together); spread over salmon, pressing firmly to coat.
3. Broil 4-6 minutes until fish is cooked through and nut/seed crust is toasty brown.

Serve over rice or quinoa (1 cup = .99) with roasted brussel sprouts (2.49)

The cost:
salmon: 6.99
parsley: 1.00 (on sale at Shoppers)

Grand total: $7.99 ($11.47 for the whole meal); serves 4