Poached Salmon with Pomegranate Pistachio Glaze

I was reading through some of the forums and came upon the Royal Joust . The Joust is essentially fun with food - you're given three basic ingredients that must be included in your creation. You can add any other ingredients of your choice but the basic three must exist. This month's big three are pomegranate, pistachio and mint.



Although late for an entry, I thought it could be fun to try and create something by inventing what my pallet directs. The end result was the title of this post. People who contribute their creation for this joust submit their entries by the first of the month and then a voting of one's peers happens for 5 days with a winner selected in the end. The winner of the particular month is bestowed the honour of the monthly shield to display on their blog.

My preference is for simple clean food with few ingredients and distinctive and indentifiable ingredients. I feel like I definitely achieved this goal and I loved the end result. AND - even more significant - we have for many generations not been big fish fans - not because it isn't good but rather because somewhere, somebody decided fish wasn't going to be part of the daily food consideration. One of my new year's resolutions is to introduce more fish and seafood to the diet. This one had absolutely no fishy taste and the pomegranate loaded up the antioxidants adding to this healthy eating choice.

Ingredients
1 Pomegranate
3 stalks fresh mint
1/2 cup white pistachios (roughly chopped)
1 lemon
1 lb. salmon pieces
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1. Marinate salmon pieces in the juice of a full lemon and 3 sprigs of mint (chopped) for approximately 1/2 hour.



2. Roughly chop pistachios, toast for about 3 minutes on dry fry pan on med. heat.







3. Scoop out seeds and juice from pomegranate (note - this can be a messy job and the juice likes clothing and walls so protect yourself)



4. Put about 1/2 inch of water in frying pan, bring to a boil and add salmon pieces to poach (5-8 minutes, turning once)



5. Add pomegranate seeds and juice to toasted pistachio nuts, add olive oil and balsamic vinegar and warm on medium low heat but don't boil.



(Note: I happen to like the texture of seeds - many people don't so if you're one who doesn't, put the pistachio nuts and pomegranate seeds in food processor to liquify and then start your glaze)

6. Serve fish topped with glaze with your choice of sides - I used knishes and broccoli.