Blackened salmon portion over quinoa on a white plate with a lemon wedge

Have you seen the new show on NBC called Food Fighters? Home cooks get to take their best recipes up against professional chefs to win money. I love a show that celebrates home cooks! In the first episode the woman took her salmon and quinoa up against Lorena Garcia. I met Lorena Garcia earlier this year when I was in Miami.    

I decided I needed to create my own and came up with this beauty of a dish. That salmon isn’t burnt, it has caramelized sugar on the skin and it’s pretty delicious. Serve it over a dirty quinoa with some veggies and lots of flavoring and you have yourself a really healthy, easy, and delicious dinner. I’ve even included a little cooking lesson so you can perfect your salmon. Go home chefs! You know how to rock your own kitchen!

When it comes to salmon, people are always asking me how I get it so there isn’t that white stuff coming out. Well guys, that white stuff means you cooked your salmon wrong. No worries though, you can do it right! Keeping the skin on will help you out here as the skin provides insulation while cooking. You want to add your salmon to a sizzling hot pan and then reduce the heat. A blast of heat followed by a lower cooking heat will help render out that fatty white stuff. And then watch it carefully so you don’t overcook it. That white stuff is a sure sign the salmon is overcooked. You can use a thermometer for accuracy. I just got a thermapen and it is amazing for stuff like this!