Salmon for Everyone!

JanuaryBride's Note:

This is a recipe I threw together one evening and my husband loved it. It can be made under the broiler or on the grill. Don't be afraid of the ranch dip/dressing. . .the fish doesn't taste like ranch when it's cooked! UPDATE: This recipe was featured in the August 2009 edition of Everyday with Rachael Ray in the Take 5 section (recipes with 5 ingredients or less).

• Total Time: 20 mins
• Prep Time: 5 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 3

• 1 lb salmon (skin on one side or completely off, it's up to you)
• 2 tablespoons ranch dip (you can substitute ranch dressing or french onion dip)
• 1 tablespoon cooked bacon , crumbles (more to taste)
• 1 ½ tablespoons crumbled feta (regular or fat free both work)
• 1 tomato , diced
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. Wash your fish in cold water and dry completely with paper towels. Sprinkle top with salt and pepper. Let it sit out for about 30 minutes to come to room temperature for even cooking.
2. If cooking under the broiler:.
3. Preheat your broiler on High.
4. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. If your fish has skin on one side, just place the fish (skin side down) on the foil in the middle of the pan. If your fish has no skin, coat foil with a little cooking oil spray before placing your fish on the foil.
5. Slather your dip all over the top and sides of the fish. Use more if necessary to make sure it is completely coated.
6. Place fish under the broiler for approximately 13 minutes, remove from oven, sprinkle on the bacon and cheese an return to oven for another 2-5 minutes until cooked (depending on thickness of salmon).
7. Top it off with a sprinkling of fresh chopped tomatoes prior to serving.
8. To cook on the grill:.
9. Preheat grill to 425-500 degrees (at least 10 minutes to get cooking surface hot).
10. Cut a piece of aluminum foil approximately 2-3 times the size of your fish. If your fish has skin on one side, just place the fish (skin side down) in the middle of a piece of foil. If your fish has no skin, coat foil with a little cooking oil spray before placing your fish on the foil.
11. Slather your dip all over the top and sides of the fish. Use more if necessary to make sure it is completely coated.
12. Sprinkle on the bacon and cheese.
13. Fold up the 4 sides of the foil to make a small "tray" for the fish to cook in (it will collect any juices that are released).
14. Grill fish for 15-20 minutes until done (depends on the thickness of your fish).
15. Top it off with a sprinkling of fresh chopped tomatoes prior to serving.

Reviews

[cyaos]

I will admit that I was somewhat skeptical making this as I was afraid that all the lovely salmon flavour would be overpowered by the ranch dressing. I only had peppercorn ranch and used that. I also took the lazy way out and used real bacon bits instead of the cooked bacon. It was a great meal - quite tasty and easy to make. Served with baby potatoes and asparagus. Thanks for posting a definite keeper!

[The Flying Chef]

This is a wonderful super easy way to prepare salmon with an outstanding result. I loved how moist the fish came out and the topping is delicious. I added some chopped sun-dried tomatoes at the end as opposed to fresh. I also cooked the fish in a pan skin side down to crisp up skin, topped with ranch, cheese and bacon and then cooked under the broiler for the remainder of cooking. I will definitely be enjoying this one again as you could not get a simpler recipe that has such a yummo flavour.

[megnbrycesmom]

A very tasty fish recipe! I only made one mistake--since I was using a cookie sheet and not a broiler pan, I raised the oven rack one up from where I normally broil (normally, the pan surface is about 4" from the heat, and raising it one put the cookie sheet 4" from the heat)--bad mistake--I nearly burnt the recipe to a crisp! Luckily I noticed in the nick of time and followed DreamoBway's plan and turned off the broiler and let the fish sit in the hot oven to finish cooking. Even partly blackened, this fish was a solid 4* recipe, so I'm guessing it should really be 5* and have rated accordingly. Made for ZWT4.