Salmon Baked Tortillas

(pictures coming soon)

Ingredients:
- Salmon, preferably with no skin
- Large flour tortillas

For a salsa:
- Cherry tomatoes
- oil
- fresh cilantro
- Balsamic vinegar

Optional sides:
- Avocado
- Sour cream

Browning the salmon:

The first step is to brown the salmon in a little oil. Cut the salmon into pieces that will fit inside a tortilla - it is easier to cut them before cooking.  Season the salmon first on both sides with salt and pepper to taste.

Use a non-stick pan, and heat a couple tablespoons of oil very hot.  Vegetable oil is best (corn, vegetable, safflower, etc., just not olive oil). Brown the salmon on both sides for a short time - about 1-2 minutes is enough. It should still be pink and raw in the center, and a little brown on the outside.

If the salmon has skin, there's not much you can do about it - you can brown the skin side a little. An option is to use salmon steaks (as opposed to filets), which have less skin on each piece.

Baking the tortilla:

Preheat the oven to 350.

Place each salmon fillets on a flour tortilla and fold gently. If you have a big enough flour tortilla, you can fold them like a burrito so that no moisture will escape while baking. If you want some fresh herbs, you can add cilantro on the salmon before folding.

Place the folded tortilla on a baking sheet (cover with aluminum foil to make it easier to clean!) and bake for about 20 minutes. IF you want the tortilla to be brown on the outside, you can brush some butter on it. It's not necessary though.

That's it, they are ready to eat in 20 mins.

To make a salsa:

Chop cherry tomatoes in half once. Toss in a bowl with a little oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Chop some fresh cilantro and toss on top.

Avocados & sour cream: you can dice the avocado and add to the salsa, OR you can just serve the avocado on the side. Sour cream makes a nice topping for the finished tortillas.

Why this recipe works:

This idea came from salmon baked in parchment, which is a typical fancy restaurant dish. The idea is that baking salmon in parchment keeps it moist. It is very common to brown meat or fish and then finish in an oven - this is the same principal. The tortilla keeps the salmon very soft and moist.

Some notes:

It's hard to find Salmon without skin, but if you do that's great. It is possible to cut the skin off with a VERY sharp knife, but it's probably not worth the hassle.

Oil: I recommend not using olive oil in this dish mostly because of the flavor. This is just my opinion. If want to try olive oil, go ahead and if you like it, that's fine.