Salmon with Cucumbers and Dill

I love salmon. Even the cheap frozen stuff from the grocery store is good, but even better if someone has gone fishing and felt generous enough to share their catch. I got lucky with this batch, as a friend of my brother-in-law went fishing in the big lake and I ended up with an entire fillet (which came to probably six pounds of fish). Since I also had cucumbers from my sister's garden, I decided to try a recipe I'd had saved for a while.

Yes, this is another one that isn't mine. It actually comes from Diabetic Gourmet, but of course I made a couple of changes to it. Not many, though... it's pretty darn near perfect as written.

The ingredients are simple enough. Salmon fillet, cucumber, chicken stock, a bit of flour, and dill. The recipe called for two seedless cucumbers, but I had this giant one with seeds so I figured that was close enough. I also used Olde Thompson's Garlic Pepper instead of regular salt and pepper.

First step is to cube the salmon and dredge it in flour. Then sear it on all sides in olive oil in a nonstick skillet. I cut my cubes a little bigger than what the recipe said, but that's because I got a late start and was trying to save some time.

Saving time is also why I didn't completely brown the fish, but it was still a little pink inside so it was pretty close to right. When you remove the fish cubes from the pan, I'd suggest laying some paper towel on the plate to collect the excess oil. It'll make it easier when you want to return the fish to the pan later.

I admit it: I didn't wipe out the pan after I removed the fish. But there really wasn't that much oil left and as I said, I was in a hurry. Probably the cucumber is cut a little larger than it said as well, but it cooked up just fine. This was the weird part for me. I'm pretty sure until now I'd never eaten cooked cucumbers.

Add the fish back to the pan, and continue cooking until the fish is done. I didn't cover the pan again because I wanted some of the liquid to steam off. As it turns out I completely missed the part of the recipe that says to boil the liquid so it reduces, so I had a lot more liquid than I was supposed to. This is what happens when you get in a hurry.

After some of the liquid had boiled off, I added the dill and simmered for a couple more minutes until the cucumbers were tender and the fish was no longer pink inside. Instead of garnishing with lemon wedges and dill, I just sprinkled a little lemon juice on it before serving. We don't go in much for garnishes around here when it's a regular weeknight dinner.

Salmon with Cucumbers and Dill

Serves 6

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly ground pepper to taste
1-3/4 pounds salmon fillet, preferably center-cut, skin removed , cut into 1-1/2-inch cubes
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 seedless cucumbers (1-1/2 pounds), cut into 2-by-1/2-inch sticks
1/3 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
Pinch of sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill, plus sprigs for garnish
Lemon wedges for garnish

Calories: 240

Protein: 27 g

Sodium: 165 mg

Cholesterol: 72 mg

Fat: 12 g

Dietary Fiber: 1 g

Carbohydrates: 6 g

Again, not my recipe! This comes to us courtesy of Diabetic Gourmet, and I thank them kindly for introducing me to a new way to eat cucumbers. It was still a little odd for me to eat them soft and warm, but they pair very nicely with the salmon both in flavour and texture.

I should point out that I actually made this at the end of summer, but I'm just now getting around to writing it up. It was posted on my Facebook page as a single picture with recipe in early September.