Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon with Chive Pesto Fingerling Potatoes

So this meal came about in a roundabout way as I wouldn't normally put these two items together. Long story short, I found myself near a Whole Foods and like a moth to the flame, I was drawn in to Whole Paycheck (as I affectionately call it) for some divine foodie inspiration chock full of fresh herbs and produce I would never find in my neighborhood Giant.

The fish at Whole Foods is always stellar, so I picked up a sockeye salmon fillet. I also saw a small bag of fingerling potatoes and remembered a recipe that my friend Nick had on his blog. Seeing as it would be a long time before I could afford another trip back to Whole Foods, I decided to make this dish as well. The one really awesome (and somewhat cost effective) item at Whole Foods is the raw nut bar where you can buy by the ounce. This comes particularly in handy when buying an expensive item that I would need very little of for this recipe...pine nuts. So I took my overpriced but highly tasty groceries home and made this great meal for myself.

Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon  (serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 2 TB olive oil
• 2 TB thyme
• 1 pound of salmon fillets
• 1 TB brown sugar
• 1TB smoked paprika
• 1tsp saigon cinnamon
• 1 tsp grated orange peel
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions:

Mix orange juice, 2 TB oil and 1 tsp of thyme in small bowl. Place salmon in large glass dish. Add marinade, turn to coat well. Cover, refrigerate for 30 minutes or longer.

Mix sugar, smoked paprika, cinnamon, orange peel, remaining 1 tsp of thyme and sea salt in small bowl. remove salmon from marinade. Place salmon in greased foil lined baking pan. Discard any remaining marinade. Rub top of salmon evenly with smoked paprika mixture.

Roast salmon in preheated 400 degree oven 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.


Chive Pesto Fingerling Potatoes (Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes
3 TB olive oil
salt
pepper
1/2 Cup fresh chives, chopped
1/2 Cup fresh flat leaf parsley
2 TB pine nuts
1 large garlic clove
1/2 Cup olive oil
1 TB lemon juice

Instructions:

To prep potatoes, cut in half lengthwise and toss with 1 TB olive oil, salt and pepper. Lay potatoes on baking sheet at 425 degrees for 35 minutes, flipping every 10 minutes to allow for even cooking.

To make pesto, combine chives, parsley, pine nuts, garlic clove, and 2 TB olive oil in a food processor to blend until its a coarse paste. Once processed, add lemon juice and salt and pepper, to taste.

Once potatoes are done, toss with the pesto and serve.