Hey, everyone! New face here: I’m Sam, Johnny’s partner. I also love to cook, so will be taking over Neighborly Bakes this week as a special guest. 👨🏻‍🍳

We had a close friend over for dinner, and I wanted to make something easy but impressive. I did some searching, and settled on this quick and easy, but incredibly delicious and healthy salmon dish. I used garden-fresh basil as an ingredient, but anything (store bought, or even pesto) will do!

In addition to the recipe below, this dish pairs great with a veggie side. You could go roasted or fresh (like a salad). For this edition, I sauteed some zucchini in olive oil with garlic, but take your favorite pick!

Ingredients

Spice-Rubbed Salmon

• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 lb. salmon filet, cut into 2–3 pieces

Basil Crema

• 1/2 cup packed fresh basil
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
• 4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
• 1–2 tablespoons lemon juice
• small pinch of salt, to taste

White Rice

• 1 cup white jasmine rice
• 1.5 cups cold water
• 2 teaspoons salt

Instructions

Basil crema
Blend the basil sauce ingredients until almost completely smooth, with just a few flecks remaining. 

Prep the Salmon
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Mix the spices in a small bowl and stir in the olive oil. Coat the salmon with the spice paste.

Bake the Salmon
Bake on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 9-12 minutes, or until 125-130 degrees in the thickest part. (It’s all personal preference, but this is the doneness that we like best – it’s a medium-done salmon.)

Assemble
Plate the salmon over the rice, serve with your veggies of choice, and spoon the sauce over the top.

Special thanks to Pinch of Yum for recipe inspiration!