The Associated Press
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From Lorain County Joint Vocational School's culinary teacher, Tim Michitsch, and two of his students, comes this great Lenten meal, filled with taste and containing absolutely no meat.
Michitsch and students, Brajuan Lewis, 17, of Elyria, and Joseph Okes, 18, of Avon Lake, prepared salmon with lemon dill butter, carrots with fennel and the perfect Lenten vegetable salad.
"It's a nice, seasonal recipe, with lentils and fresh vegetables. Lentils go well with salmon, since it's such a fatty fish. The vegetables add that extra flavor and complement the salmon itself," Michitsch said.
"With the grilled salmon right off the grill, the lemon dill butter gets inside the salmon and gives it extra flavor," Lewis said.
"It's got a charred flavor from being on the grill and it's moist and tender inside," Okes said.
As a bonus, Michitsch and his students have also shared their recipe for lemon dill butter.
Grilled Salmon
with Lemon Dill Butter
LEMON DILL BUTTER
• 1 pound unsalted butter
• 4 tablespoons dill, chopped
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 lemon (for lemon zest)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Cube the butter and let it come to room temperature. Add the dill, lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper. Mix until combined. Place on parchment paper and roll into a log or scoop with a spoon and freeze individually. Put into fridge until it hardens.
SALMON
Brush one, 4-ounce salmon fillet with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill salmon on both sides (approximately 3 minutes on each side) until medium rare. Top with one slice of lemon dill butter when plated.
CARROTS WITH FENNEL
1 carrot
1 cup fennel
2 teaspoons butter
1 tablespoon honey
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Cut carrot in half and then quarter each piece. Slice fennel with a bias cut. Blanch carrots until fork tender. Saute carrots and fennel in a saute pan with the honey, butter, tarragon, salt and pepper for flavor (do not brown).
LENTIL VEGETABLE SALAD
1 tablespoon whole butter
1 shallot, minced
1/2 cup red bell peppers, small diced
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
2 cups lentils, cooked
2 oz. lemon thyme vinaigrette
2 fluid ounces lemon juice
1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons hazelnuts, toasted, crushed
Place whole butter in a large saute pan over heat. Place shallots with the butter. Saute shallots in whole butter until translucent. Add red bell peppers cook until al dente.
Add the shiitake mushrooms and cook 1 minute. Add cooked lentils to the vegetable mix. When finished, take off heat, add in lemon thyme vinaigrette, mix well. Add in chopped parsley and crushed hazel nuts. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Mix all ingredients well in a bowl. Season to taste.
