A tasty combo of two recipes adapted from The Kitchn.

Ingredients:

For the salmon:
  • 2 salmon fillets
  • teaspoon of brown sugar
  • teaspoon white wine vinegar
  • tablespoon of french mustard for smooth finish
  • teaspoon oil
For the pesto:
  • 200 grams baby spinach
  • 1/3 cup walnuts
  • 1/3 cup grated parmesan, lightly packed
  • 1 to 2 garlic cloves
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
For the salad:
  • 453 grams orzo pasta
  • 175 feta cheese, crumbled
  • 2/3 cup kalamata olives, pitted and roughly chopped
  • 1 clove shallot, diced small
  • Juice of 1/2 a lemon
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions:

For the salmon:

  1. Combine the ingredients for the marinade in a bowl and mix well
  2. Place the salmon fillets in the bowl and cover completely in the marinade
  3. Let the salmon sit for 15-60 min
  4. Meanwhile, place a cast iron skillet or other heavy oven-safe pan a few inches below the broiler and preheat for 10 minutes.
  5. Carefully remove the hot skillet from the oven and place the salmon skin-side up in the pan. (Depending on the size of your broiler and pan, you may need to cook the fish in batches.) Broil for 2 minutes. Flip and broil for another 1 to 2 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fillets, until the salmon is just barely translucent at its thickest point. (It will continue cooking off the heat.) Remove from the hot pan immediately.
  6. Serve hot or refrigerate it to serve it cold the next day.
For the salad:
  1. Layer about half the spinach into the bowl of a food processor or blender and disperse the walnuts, parmesan, cloves, lemon juice, and salt on top. Pulse until the ingredients are incorporated and the spinach is roughly chopped. Add the remaining spinach. With the motor running, stream 3 tablespoons of olive oil into the spinach until it is saucy. Scrape down the sides and give it a taste. Add more salt or lemon juice to taste. If you’d like a richer pesto, stream in the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.
  2. Cook the orzo in boiling well-salted water until it is al dente, about 8 minutes. Strain and immediately combine with the pesto while the pasta is still warm. Add the feta, olives, shallots, and lemon juice to the pasta and stir gently to combine. Taste, and add more salt, pepper, or lemon juice as needed.
  3. Let the salad cool and then refrigerate for up to a week. The flavors improve by the second day.