Salmon with Lentils and Chive Butter

Waiting to go home this week seems to have some-what zapped my cooking inspiration. I am really excited to cook but not so invigorated about thinking about what to cook. Kind of a catch-22 there. Yesterday I sat down determined to figure out what I wanted to get at the store before I went to sleep and this was one of the recipes that came from it. I got it from epicurious.com, I believe from an old Bon App. magazine. Speaking of which I hear their revamped style is interesting...it's something I'll have to check out later this summer.

As a heads up this recipe calls for French lentils which I know can be hard to find. At least it always takes my mom about 3-4 stores back home to find them...maybe they are more common over here in St. Louis since Katie and I found them in bulk at Whole Foods. Super exciting and super cheap! Lien, if you can find these when you get back to the states it is a super easy recipe. You should still make the salmon part though since you can do that without fancy stuff.

Ingredients:

Salmon:
two Salmon fillets (enough for two people to eat)
2 tbl butter

Chive Butter:
4 tbs butter
1 tbs chopped chives
2 tsp mustard (preferably whole grain)
1 tsp lemon juice

Lentils:
1 cup French lentils
4 cups water
2 medium size leeks, chopped white and pale green part only
1 tbs butter
1 tbs lemon juice

Preparation:

1. Make the chive butter. Combine all the ingredients. If you did not take out your butter to come to room temp. beforehand you can just zap it in the microwave for about 10 seconds. Season to taste.

2. Start the lentils. Add them in a pot with the water. Bring them to a boil and then lower it to a simmer and cook for 20-25 minutes until the lentils are tender. Take off the stove and let them sit for about 5 minutes. Then reserve 1/2 cup of cooking liquid and drain the rest of the lentils.

3. Towards the middle of the lentil's cooking time, slice the leeks, thinly and then wash them. Its easier this way since leeks some times have dirt one-two layers down. In a skillet melt 1 tbs of butter, and then saute the leeks for 6-8 minutes until soft.

4. At the same time, melt the 2 tbs of butter for the salmon. Pat the salmon dry and then season with salt and pepper on both sides. Cook the salmon until done. About 6-8 minutes depending on the thickness.

5. While the salmon is cooking, add the lentils to the leeks when they are soft. Add three tbs of the chive butter and season with lemon juice and salt and pepper. Cook until lentils are warm through.

6. Once the salmon is done serve on top of the lentils with chive butter.

Yum, yum.