Honey-Lime Glazed Salmon W/ Broccolini and Rice

First of all, seriously... Gourmet magazine shutting down? This is a travesty! I just hope the other great magazines, Bon Appetit, Food & Wine, Cook's Illustrated etc. are not soon to follow. I think that would be the death of me, and frankly, I'm too young to die. Anyway, I found this recipe in October's Bon Appetit and just HAD to try it, considering I just got a new fry pan and have been longing to stick it in my oven! (I know, waaaaay nerdy)

Ingredients:

Juice from 1 lime
Zest from 1 lime
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium shallots, sliced
3/4 cup short grain brown rice, or any rice for that matter
1 & 1/2 cups chicken broth
2 6 oz. salmon fillets
1 bunch broccolini, trimmed

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

In a small bowl, combine lime juice, zest, honey, and soy sauce. Set aside.

I like to leave the skin on my salmon, so I chose to buy fillets with the skin still on, but the recipe called for skinless. So you can go either way. If you go the skin way, then turn your fillets skin-side up on a cutting board and cut 3 or 4 slits diagonally on the skin and season both sides with salt and pepper. I learned this trick from Gordon Ramsey, of all people. It creates less surface area on the skin and crisps it up faster. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in medium to large skillet under high heat. Place salmon, skin side down, and fry for about 3 to 4 minutes, or until your skin is nice and crispy. Set salmon aside.

In the same fry pan, lower heat to medium and saute the shallots until they become soft and start turning brown, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the remaining olive oil, rice, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Cover with lid and bake in oven for about 20 minutes. Depending on the type of rice you use, in my case, short grain brown rice, the cooking time may vary. Brown rice takes a little bit to entirely cook, so if you want something a little faster you might try a white rice like basmati.

Remove skillet from oven and season rice with salt, if needed. Add salmon fillets on top of rice, skin side up so it can continue to crisp in oven because it will lose some of the crisp in the waiting time. Top salmon fillets with honey-lime-soy mixture and arrange broccolini around fish, and you can even anchor them in the rice. Cover tightly with lid and return to oven to cook for about 10 minutes, or until salmon is nice and done.

Serve with extra sauce on the side and enjoy!

This was both delicious and it didn't make me feel like I was gourging! Yes, the rice took quite a bit longer than I anticipated, but it was amazing. The flavors all blended together and the broccolini was crisp and refreshing. The salmon was moist and tasty!