Lime & Honey Salmon w/Warm Black Bean and Corn Spinach Salad

This is a Rachel Ray recipe from her book, "365: No Repeats". I would love the book and I know pause to check prices on Amazon... Looks like I can get it for $2 at textbooks.com (used of course). Shipping is $4 or free after $25 which makes me tempted to find other books...We will see.

Ok, on to the recipe! This one is all cooked on top of your stove and is very quick to put together. I actually took photos for the first time but bear with me as I had to use my cell phone b/c I cannot find the charger to my digital camera. I'll have to toodledo that...

To get started this is what you'll need:
olive oil
1 med red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves
1/2-1tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper
juice of 2 limes or 4tbsp bottled
3 tbsp honey
1 tsp chili powder
4 6ounce salmon fillets
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 10ounce box frozen corn kernels, defrosted (I used bagged and just eyeballed it)
1/2cup chicken broth or stock (I used frozen broth with 1/2 cup water)
1 15ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
6 cups baby spinach rinsed (I used regular spinach and cut off stems)

You will need two skillets/pans. 1 big enough for your fillets to lay in a single layer and one big enough for your salad (which is 6cups of spinach the corn and beans remember). Next time I'll use a bigger pan for the salad but I just tossed it in a bowl at the end.

At this point my daughter woke up and cried in such a way that I knew I better not start cooking until my husband got home. She's been sick so luckily this isn't typical. Her's the little one:

In the meantime I made my marinade for the salmon and let it sit out for a few mins. Ray doesn't say to marinade the salmon but I didn't think it would hurt. 

For the Lime & Honey sauce combine: juice of 1 lime (or 2tbsp from a bottle), honey, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir and coat the salmon in the sauce. I set it on a plate while I waited for Daddy to get home to help me out.

In the salad pan sauté onions, garlic, red pepper flakes, cumin, salt, and pepper in a couple tbsp oil. Cook about 3mins.It will look like this:

 While the onions are cooking preheat your salmon skillet. Add a few tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot cook your salmon 3-4 mins per side. You will notice I only made two fillets. I only made half as much sauce but I wanted to leave the recipe above for 4fillets. That's b/c I was only cooking for Andrew and I. Since I needed to use the spinach and halving canned goods results in leftovers anyway I made the full salad.

After the onions are cooked (about 3mins) add the corn and bell peppers and cook for 1min. Then add the chicken stock and cool for 2mins. Add the black beans and cook for 1 additional minute.

While your working on the salad don't forget about your fillets. Once the edges begin to look opaque it's time to flip the fillets. Be careful not to break the fillet which might happen if your sauce is becoming a sticky glaze (which it is). In the next photo the fillets are ready to flip.

Once they flipped they look like this:

They look a bit burnt but really they aren't ruined; it's just the glaze.

By now your salad is about done. Remove the pan from the fire and add in the spinach and cilantro. Toss to coat and allow the greens to wilt slightly. I had to toss mine in a large bowl so don't feel bad if that's the case for yourself!

Serve the salmon on top of the warm salad and enjoy! 

My husband LOVED this. He said something very close to, "I really like this because it isn't a "regular" everyday meal. It's like something I would order in a restaurant if I was being adventurous but you made it!" I said, "Thanks love" but I was gushing with pride on the inside. Really not hard at all! Thanks Rachel Ray!

I loved it too. We both marveled at how perfectly the salmon was cooked. Not at ALL overcooked which is very easy to do! I impressed myself but I think the easy recipe should get the credit!

Because I'm a parent who can't get enough of my family, here's one of Madelyn with her Daddy:

Hopefully I can find the power cord to my camera before my next meal because some of these photos are horrible and I apologize!