Salmon with Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Vegetable Israeli Couscous

Food tastes better when you know where it came from.  Food tastes even better when you hunt or grow it yourself.

The thrill of the catch in Campbell River made my salmon taste pretty good.  We can just forget about how you kill your new friend once he's in the boat.  Think small baseball bat and a good whack.  Slightly morbid/bloody/shocking the first time you see the kill, but sadly you just get used to it.  

The first time I tried on my yellow Hanson jumper suit in Campbell River I was shocked there was still blood on my pants.  Can't they rinse these suckers off?  Then, you get squirted with salmon blood a couple times and it's ends up being no big deal.  The lingering scent on my hands/clothes though is another story.  Even after washing the fish scent remained prevalent.  Attractive.  

I have a lot of salmon to eat by the way.  Want to come over?

I had a friend over last week to try my salmon out for the first time and I made Salmon with Slow Roasted Tomatoes over Vegetable Couscous.  For ease of making dinner on a weeknight I made the tomatoes the night before and then just reheated them at 300˚F for a little less then 10 minutes so they were warm.  It was the first time I made this dish and the couscous and tomatoes paired wonderfully with the salmon.  Stay tuned for more salmon recipes!

Salmon with Slow Roasted Tomatoes over Vegetable Israeli Couscous
Adapted from this Epicurious Recipe

Serves 2 (I had leftovers)

Ingredients:

4 Roma Tomatoes sliced in half
1 tsp Sugar
Salt
Pepper
1/4 Cup Olive Oil + 2 Tbsp Olive Oil divided
3 Garlic Cloves Chopped divided
Fresh Basil - 10 Full Leaves plus 2 Tbsp chopped
Fresh Rosemary - 2 Sprigs leaves removed
Fresh Thyme - 2 Sprigs leaves removed
2 tsp Lemon Zest plus juice from 1 Lemon
1 Cup Israeli Couscous
Chicken Broth (follow cooking directions for couscous using the correct amount of chicken broth)
2 Small Zucchini chopped into 1/4 moons
1/2 red Onion chopped to similar size as Zucchini
6 Kalamata Olives diced


Directions:
Preheat oven to 250˚F.  Toss tomatoes with sugar and a generous amount of salt.  Place cut side down in shallow baking dish.  Cook garlic in 1/4 cup olive oil in sauté pan over medium heat until fragrant and pale golden, about 1 minute.   Pour oil over tomatoes and top with 10 basil leaves, rosemary, and thyme.  Roast until the tomatoes are tender, about 2 hours.
Remove from oven.  Turn oven up to 500˚F or see my note in post above.  Transfer tomatoes to serving platter.  Strain to remove herbs/garlic and reserve the olive oil.  Add lemon zest, lemon juice, 2 Tbsp chopped basil, and salt/pepper to taste to reserved oil.  Set aside.
Toast Israeli Couscous in medium saucepan over medium/high heat with 1 Tbsp of olive oil and a dash of salt.  When golden, add chicken broth following directions on package.  Cook until al dente and all liquid is absorbed.
Meanwhile sauté zucchini, 1 garlic clove chopped, and red onion in 1 Tbsp olive oil in saucepan over medium/high heat for about 10 minutes or until cooked.
Toss vegetables with couscous and reserved herb/tomato olive oil to taste.  I used about 1/2 the olive oil.
Rub salmon with 1 Tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Cook in oven at 500˚F for about 12 minutes or until cooked through.  
To serve:  Place couscous on plate, top with salmon and remaining herb/tomato olive oil and kalamata olives.  Place slow roasted tomatoes around the salmon.  Enjoy!