Off and Running - YIKES - No Dessert. . .Bummer!

Weeellllll, I feel terrible! My whole dinner plan started around dessert. I was going to make this awesome Caramel Apple-Brandy Malt for dessert, found the most wonderful caramel that cost about 10 dollars for 1/2 c. worth in a jar, along with my favorite Vanilla Bean Haagan-Daz ice cream. I come up with a menu for Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon with Wilted Spinach,
a salad of what I had on hand (which turned out awesome . . .uuuhhhmmm, except for the added Goat Brie. . . bad choice. . .way to strong of a flavor) and my oven-crisp potato wedges. Everything was easy and the flavors were going together great. The 2 pound salmon Coho Salmon fillet was from my favorite seafood and butcher section of the local grocery and I was told that the fish was *not* previously frozen. That is huge in my book for flavor! I marinated the salmon in orange juice, olive oil and thyme in one of those food saver dishes where you use the food saver device to suck the air out so that marinating happens in a quarter of the time. It works great! A half-an-hour later, I am ready to go with my spice rub. After putting the seasoning on the Salmon, it bakes for about 13 minutes and wah-laa! Oh yes, I also wilted some baby spinach for two minutes on the stove-top in a little olive oil and made a bed out of it for the salmon to set on.

The salad was just a head of shredded iceberg lettuce, some crab that I had left over from dinner the previous night and still needed to shuck, Muenster cheese cubed, cherry tomatoes, baby carrots, cauliflower, Prosciutto that I sliced thinly, garlic and cheese croutons and almond slivers.

While the salmon was marinating in the refrigerator, I was cubing my little red potatoes and tossing them with olive oil, 1 T. of garlic, some ground sea salt, a little ground pepper, oh - and of course a little paprika for color and flavor. Toss all this in a bowl as shown below and wait to bake in the oven the same time that the salmon goes in.

My potatoes get slid onto a jellyroll pan that I have set a sheet of aluminum on and sprayed with a non-stick spray before baking. Easy clean-up is always a good thing, right?

Everything comes together and looks great! Including pictures, the whole process only took me about 45 minutes. Yay! The best part? Hubby did dishes. Double Yay! The bad part? Everyone was too stuffed for dessert! Can you believe it? I have all the makings for an awesome dessert and nobody can even squeak to even want to try a bite. I feel so hurt. Well, there is always tomorrow night :D

Smoked Paprika Roasted Salmon with Wilted Spinach

(This makes about 6 to 8 Servings. . .Depending on how big of eaters your family has)

1/4 c. Orange Juice

2 T. plus 1 t. olive oil, divided

2 t. Thyme Leaves, divided

2 pounds Salmon Fillets

1 T. Brown Sugar

1 T. Smoked Paprika

1 t. Cinnamon

1/2 t. Sea Salt

1 t. Orange Peel

1 bag (about 10 ounces) Baby Spinach Leaves

Mix orange juice, 2 T. of the oil and 1 t. of the thyme in small bowl. Place salmon in large glass dish. Add marinade; turn to coat well. Cover. Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for extra flavor.

Mix sugar, smoked paprika, cinnamon, orange peel, remaining 1 t. thyme and sea salt in small bowl. Remove salmon from marinade. Place in greased foil-lined baking pan. Discard any remaining marinade. Rub top of salmon evenly with smoked paprika mixture.

Roast salmon in a preheated 400 degree oven 10 to 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Meanwhile, heat remaining 1 t. olive oil in large skillet on medium heat. Add spinach; cook and stir 2 minutes or until wilted. Serve salmon over spinach.

Oven-Crisp Potato Wedges

1 1/2 pounds small red potatoes

1 T. olive oil

4 t. finely minced garlic

3/4 t. coarse salt

1/2 t. paprika

1/4 t. freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 525 degrees. Quarter potatoes and place in a large bowl. Drizzle ( I love that word) olive oil over potatoes and toss.

Sprinkle garlic, salt paprika and pepper over potatoes; toss to coat well.

Line a baking sheet with foil and lightly spray with vegetable cooking spray. Arrange potatoes on prepared baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes, stirring once or twice during cooking.

Raise heat to broil. Broil potatoes until crisp, watching closely not to over-brown, about 1-2 minutes. Yum! :D