Cedar-wrapped Salmon with Shitake Slaw Recipe

For this weeks recipe weekend, I prepared a Cedar wrapped Salmon with a Shitake Slaw.  I love the marriage of fish with an asian side dish.  Light, refreshing and healthy.  Spring and Summer are the perfect time to break out the fish recipes. What's your favorite fish dish?

Here's what you need:

Ingredients (serves 2)

½ lb. shitake mushrooms

1 clove garlic

2 TB fresh ginger

¼ bunch basil

2 medium size graffiti eggplant (or Japanese eggplant)

2 wild Alaskan Salmon filets

¼ cup soy sauce

1 TB honey

2 TB sesame oil

1 cup shredded carrots

1 TB butter or ghee

2 cedar wraps

Kitchen twine

Prepare Ingredients

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Soak cedar wraps in water for 20 minutes.  Wipe mushrooms clean with damp paper towel

and thinly slice.  Mince garlic.  Trim skin of ginger and mince.  Rinse basil and roughly tear leaves, discarding stems.  Rinse

eggplant and create a roll cut of 2-inch wedges (rotate eggplant while cutting on alternating diagonals). Rinse Salmon and pat dry

with paper towel.

Start Eggplant

In bowl, whisk together soy sauce, honey, ½ of sesame oil, ½ of garlic, ½ of ginger, salt and pepper to taste.  On foil-lined baking sheet

Toss eggplant with ½ of glaze, reserving remainder.  Roast halfway tender, about 15 minutes.

Make Slaw

In medium bowl, toss carrots, mushrooms and remaining garlic, ginger and sesame oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Assemble Wraps

Remove cedar wraps from water and lay flat.  Cut twine into two, 6-8 inch pieces.  Place salmon in center of wraps and dot evenly with butter or ghee.  Spoon over slaw.  Carefully wrap cedar over salmon and slaw (cedar edges may just barely touch, they don’t need to close completely around the salmon) and secure with twine.  Add cedar wraps to same baking sheet as eggplant.

Roast Eggplant and Wraps

Reduce oven to 425 degrees.  Toss remaining glaze over eggplant and put back in oven with cedar wraps and roast until salmon is cooked and tender, about 10 minutes.  Remove.

Plate Salmon

Untie wraps, discarding cedar and garnish salmon with basil.  Serve and Enjoy. 

Stacey