Salmon with a Brown Sugar Marinade

Here's another mid-week meal that couldn't be more straight forward and delish. It's salmon fillets marinated in brown sugar, wine (adults only), and a splash of lemon. Simple! This gives the salmon a nice sweet taste with a bit of bite and the wine mellows everything out. For sides we had roasted asparagus and a sweet potato.

Main Ingredients (2 Servings):
1/2 Cup white wine
1/4 cup brown sugar
Juice from half a lemon
2 6-8oz salmon fillets

Side Ingredients:
1 Bunch of asparagus, trimmed
1 tablespoons unsalted butter
3-4 sprigs fresh thyme
1 tablespoon peanut oil
kosher salt
1 sweet potato

Mix first 3 Main ingredeints in a bowl. Wash salmon fillets and pat dry then season with salt and pepper. Place fillets gently in marinade. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes. Once salmon is ready, heat medium skillet with peanut oil to medium heat. Put oven on high broil. Place salmon fillets on a foil lined baking sheet and put in oven. You can spinkle more brown sugar on the fillets to give them a nice crisp top layer and a bit more sweetness.

For potato, take fork and pierce several times. Toss in microwave for 10 minutes. Place asparagus in skillet and sprinkle with kosher salt. Asparagus shouldn't pop. You should hear nice sizzle. Make sure to continually turn the asparagus so they don't char or burn. Once the skillet begins to dry, toss in the butter and thyme. More turning to cook evenly. Burnt asparagus is NOT delish. Cook until tender crisp, roughly 8-10 minutes.

Remember to check your salmon cause this could happen:

Don't worry though, it's just the brown sugar begining to burn. Oops! Make sure the oven fan is on! Cook the salmon until the flesh flakes with a fork, usually about 8-10 minutes depending on the thickness. The key is to get the salmon and sweet potato started at the same time since they're low maintenance. You'll want most of your attention on the asparagus.

If you've timed it right, you should be able to plate the salmon, asparagus and sweet potato at the same time. You can serve the SP in the skin or scoop out the good stuff (I did).

Here's the end result:

Oh, and this home cooked meal was cheap! $6 for the wine, $6 for the salmon. $2 for the asparagus, and $.99 for the sweet potato. We're talkin $15 for two people with drinks! I had the other ingredients which helped. Fresh thyme will run you $1.70 for a handful of sprigs. Buy in bulk with the remaining ingredients and it wil help save money with these mid-week dinners. You can use any cheap white wine. We used a $6 Barefoot Chard. A $12 Mondavi magnum would work too (More wine for the adults!). However, I typically have a philisophy of Crap In-Crap Out. Meaning the quality level of ingredients you use determines the level of flavor you get. Not with this dish though. Tonight's goal with quick, easy and flavorful. I think that was accomplished!