Baked salmon with a coffee rub and a bread salad with apples.
This delightful salmon meal combines several favorites foods from my Washington state upbringing. First off is the salmon, rubbed with Seattle favorite–coffee. This rub also includes lemon juice and maple syrup, for a balance of flavors. And since Washington famous for its apples, I’ve included an apple panzanella on the side. It features not just sweet, crispy apples and sourdough bread, but also red cabbage, arugula, and bacon, with a Dijon vinaigrette.
Coffee Rubbed Salmon with Apple Panzanella
This dish is an homage to my upbringing in Washington State where—at least as I remember things—three foods reign supreme: coffee, salmon, and apples. Here the coffee and salmon are paired in a possibly unexpected way, but, as it turns out, the bitterness of coffee is a nice compliment to the richness of salmon and is also balanced in a rub containing lemon juice and maple syrup. Meanwhile the apples add a nice bit of crisp sweetness to a bread salad that also features bacon, red cabbage, and arugula in a Dijon vinaigrette. This fast and easy meal can be enjoyed equally on a rainy Washington day, a sunny California day, or wherever you may reside.
Ingredients
- 2 slices bacon
- 2 6- oz salmon fillets
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil divided
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1 small lemon juiced
- 1 tsp ground coffee
- Kosher salt and pepper
- 2 thick slices crusty bread such as sourdough cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 sweet apple such as Fuji , cored and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 head red cabbage cored, cut in half lengthwise and thinly sliced
- 1/2 cup arugula
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°. Place bacon in a large skillet and turn heat to medium. Cook, flipping occasionally, until browned and crisp, 8-10 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel lined plate and reserve the bacon grease.
- While bacon is cooking pat salmon dry with a paper towel and place on one half of a large sheet pan. In a small bowl whisk together 1 tbsp olive, maple syrup, 1 tsp lemon juice (reserve the remainder), coffee, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Brush onto salmon.
- Place bread cubes in a large bowl and toss together with 1 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Transfer to the sheet pan with salmon and set empty bowl aside. Bake for 7-10 minutes until salmon flakes easily with a fork. Remove bread cubes from sheet pan sooner if already toasted.
- In the large bowl whisk together 1 tbsp bacon grease, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and Dijon mustard. Add apple, cabbage, arugula, toasted bread cubes, and crumbled bacon. Toss together and adjust seasoning as needed with salt and pepper. Divide salmon and Panzanella amongst plates.
