Servings: 4 Prep: 15 mins Cook: 15 mins Total: 30 mins
I don’t know what I was thinking when I made this dish. It was the middle of summer, tomatoes and other summer produce was in abundance at the local Farmers’ Market and I had just made tomato water with a friend.
This dish is almost like a soup. Once you cut into the salmon, it begins to break apart and settle into the seared veggies, swimming around the pool of transparent tomato juice. It’s so pretty and so simple and so light and clean, that it’s clear it’s an impossibly summer dish.
If you do not have the tomato water lying around, do not worry. You can either completely omit it, or substitute a mixture of half tomato juice and half chicken, fish or vegetable stock, seasoned with a bit of salt, pepper and lemon juice. It won’t be clear, but it will approximate the taste and texture. Plus … it’ll still be pretty! ☺
Note: I mention chiffonade of basil. It’s basically basil that’s been cut into strips. You can see the method, here.


Pan Seared Salmon with Veggies and Tomato Water
Print RateIngredients
- 1 cup tomato water
- 2 tbsp light oil (for sautéing ... such as coconut olive or ghee)
- 4 each 6-ounce fresh salmon fillets
- 2 each small green zucchini or summer squash cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 lb green string beans ends and string removed, cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/2 lb cherry tomatoes washed, dried and halved or quartered
- 16 leaves fresh basil cut into ribbons (chiffonade)
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (for drizzle)
- salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 425 F.
- Preheat a large oven proof non-stick pan, over high heat.
- Place your tomato water in a small sauce pan on the stove, on the lowest heat. We want to heat it up, but do not boil it. Boiling it will make it cloudy. We just want to warm to hot. On the lowest setting, it will slowly come up to the proper temperature.
- Season your salmon steaks with salt and pepper.
- Add oil to the hot pan non-stick pan and swirl it around. Once the oil is clearly rippling, add each of the 4 steaks to the hot pan, with the attractive side facing down. This will give the face a nice sear. Be sure the steaks are not touching one another and are not "crowded". There should be space between each piece of fish.
- Immediately transfer the pan to the oven and set a timer for about 6 minutes. (8 to 10 for a nice thick piece of salmon ... the goal is a medium rare to medium)
- While the salmon is in the oven, place a second large sauté pan on the stove to preheat over medium high heat. Once the oil is clearly rippling, add the cut zucchini and summer squash. Season with a little salt and pepper, and let sear for about 2 minutes.
- Add the green beans and cook with the zucchini, for about 4 more minutes.
- At the last minute, add your cut cherry tomatoes, basil chiffonade and a little more salt and pepper to the hot veggies. You really just want to warm up the tomatoes, more than "cook" them. They are more or less raw when served.
- When the 6 minutes on the timer are up, remove the fish from the oven and flip it, so that the nice seared side is facing up. Leave the fish in the pan and set it aside to rest and "carryover" cook, while the rest of the dish is coming together.
- Divide your hot tomato water into 4 soup bowls. Place an equal amount of vegetables within each bowl. Top the veggies with your salmon and then drizzle some nice extra virgin olive oil around the food.
- Serve!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …