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This pan cooked salmon over a bed of black bean pasta is very simple to make and you only need around 30 minutes to do it.
Salmon is one of the easiest kinds of fish to cook, and with its unique flavor it doesn’t need lots of seasonings and marinating.
I wanted to share with you my favorite, quick and easy way to cook salmon fillet in a pan on the stove top.
Although grilled salmon tastes amazing, if you are only planning to cook 1 or 2 fish fillets, doing it on the stove top might be the best choice.
This past weekend I did not feel like starting my huge Weber gas grill for just cooking two 4 oz fillets and that’s why I pan fried it.
I like to remove the skin before cooking, but you can leave it on if that’s what you’d like.
Pan cooking salmon fillets creates light crispiness, but leaves the fish juicy.
The best part is that it only takes 3-5 minutes per side to cook. Salmon has very mild flavor and buttery taste, that’s why I like to use just salt, black pepper, lemon juice and olive oil to season it.
Of course, it tastes great seasoned with a little garlic, thyme or red pepper, but today’s recipe is all about the simplest, yet my favorite way to prepare salmon.
I decided to serve salmon fillets over a bed of organic gluten free black bean pasta.
Not too long ago I discovered this healthy alternative of the grain pasta – organic, gluten free, sodium free black bean pasta.
I’m surprised how much I liked these in the previous dish I prepared with them and thought they will pair well with a nice piece of pan cooked salmon.
If you are interested in another recipe, where I use black bean pasta, make sure you check my first experiment with it here.
This time I adapted one of the recipes on the pasta package, making a simple oil and vinegar dressing  and adding some chopped fresh bell peppers and green onions.
The whole combination of flavorful and buttery salmon, crunchy peppers, fresh dressing and al dente black bean pasta turned out to be a winner!
Salmon With Black Bean Pasta
Ingredients
For the salmon:
- 2 4 oz fresh salmon fillets, (I prefer skin off)
- 4 tsp olive oil, (2 tsp for marinating and 2 for frying)
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Black Bean Spaghetti
- 6 cups water for cooking the pasta
- 4 oz organic black bean pasta
- 1 red or yellow bell pepper cut into small cubes, (Can use 1/2 yellow and 1/2 red for more color. Substitute with 4 mini bell peppers if you'd like)
- 2 tbsp chopped green onions
For the pasta:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- lime or lemon halves for serving
Instructions
- Place salmon fillets in a shallow bowl and season with olive oil, lemon juice, salt and black pepper. Make sure fillets are evenly coated with seasoning.
- Heat olive oil in a non stick skillet over medium heat and cook salmon about 4-5 minutes per side, until cooked through.
- Pasta: Boil 6 cups water, add spaghetti and simmer for 8 minutes until cooked through. Drain water.
- Mix ingredients for the dressing.
- In 2 separate bowls divide pasta, add peppers and onions to each bowl and add sauce.
- Add grilled salmon on top.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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CHECK OUT MY OTHER BLACK BEAN SPAGHETTI RECIPE
Gaaaaaaah I can’t even remember the last time I “indulged” in some salmon?! (we just haven’t had it in since forever!) But this is seriously making me want to stock up for the weekend. And I am so with you in pan frying salmon – the moisture just gets so perfectly *sealed* inside a crispy layer of deliciousness. This looks great Mira!
Hey Tash, thanks a lot for your kind comments! Before I cooked that, I hadn’t had salmon in almost 2 months 🙂 I make more salmon in the winter than summer 🙂 Pan frying is soo easy and makes this fish juicier!
Thanks for reminding me about the black bean pasta! I have a gluten intolerant friend coming over tomorrow, I meant to go hunt this down! I love the colour pop in this dish. And I REALLY love that you’ve used a salad dressing type sauce for the pasta! Perfect to lighten up the pasta “sauce” when having it with salmon which is quite rich!
I really hope you find this pasta Nagi! The salad dressing was perfect for this dish !
YUM!! This looks so delicious! What a great recipe! Love it! I love love LOVE salmon so much! What a fun way to enjoy it! healthy and tasty!! 🙂
Sorry!! I totally don’t know why it uploaded a huge (squashed) picture of me!! I meant to do that for the little box on the side!! Oops!!
No problem :)))
Thanks Cailee ! I’m glad you like it! It is such a simple way to enjoy salmon !
Black bean pasta? Wow, I have never heard of that before! How does it taste?
Btw, I have that same bowl and water glass 😀
I recently discovered this black bean spaghetti and my local Costco still has them. They definitely don’t taste like regular pasta, but they are a healthier, low calorie and gluten free alternative. They are harder, when you bite into. I think the best way is to serve them tossed in some sauce or even salad dressing and fresh or sautéed veggies.
These are some of my favorite props for food pics 🙂 (these bowls and glasses )
I recently discovered black bean pasta! This was a superb recipe, even though I overcooked the pasta bit. Delicious! Thank you! Â