Pan-Fried Salmon with Tomato and Herb Salsa, from the RM kitchen.

Last week I received a little 'inspiration' present from NoMU, one of my favorite brands for all things flavour and style. I've got stuck in the rut that all parents go through from time to time. The rut of spaghetti bolognaise and macaroni cheese and I'm bored. Bored of my meals and my kitchen. I read many food blogs and have bought books, but the meals are sometimes hard to make or not practical - recipes that require ingredients like mustard seeds from the south of Brazil that you'll probably never find. Things I can't pronounce. Things that my kids would never eat. I lost my spirit of adventure in the kitchen, and it sucked. If I cook safe, my kids eat safe and I want them to experience more texture, flavour and excitement at the dinner table. Sure I still love dippy eggs and stir-fry, but what do you make when someone fancy comes to dinner? Not cheesy toast guys. Not even with tomato sauce. 

Apart from the Salmon, it's actually a really affordable meal! The fish was not even that pricey - about the same as a good sirloin or fillet at the same cut. If you can't find shallot (like me) then just use a small red onion. This was really easy to make and apart from chopping the tomatoes, it took about seven minutes to make this meal. Make sure you have the table set and the wine (unwooded chardonnay - please!) poured  before you get started, otherwise the fishies will get colder than Nemo in a dentist's fish tank. I really do love my little kitchen, I gave her loads of love yesterday. 

Get everything ready on one plate before you get going. Do the salsa first, then do the asparagus and salmon at the same time, in different pots. I served my asparagus with lemon juice and butter - and I used brown sugar in the salsa. I don't know what is in the Seafood & Fish grinder, but do not swap that ingredient out. It's the body flavour of the whole meal. I like to add my own little ingredients to recipes because I have insubordination issues (and I'm a Leo) so I struggle to take instructions. "Just add butter? Don't tell me what to do, I'll add lemon too!" You know? *clears throat*

The pan needs to be on high, and you need to sprinkle olive oil on the fish - not the pan. Dust both sides with the Seafood & Fish grinder - generous amounts. Now place the asparagus in to boiling water. Put the Salmon on the pan - serving side first and fry for about thirty seconds until crispy out the outside, but still raw inside. Turn. Take it off about thirty seconds later. Serve on to a plate, scoop the salsa on top, take the asparagus out, plate it with the salmon with some butter and a few lemon squeezes and serve. Sit back and enjoy the faces of the people that you love. Bask in the glory of how amazing you are at life. 

I got this recipe card from the NoMU Recipe Box. It's a really cool box that you can top up with different starters, mains etc as they are released. They also give you blank cards so you can add in a few of your own recipes, family favorites etc. Also, you can just scroll through the cards, pick a recipe, pop the card in to your handbag and take it along on your next shop for the ingredients. I love how much thought and consideration they've put in to this. It's because the founders / owners Tracy and Paul are so real. They have their hands on everything, they also have two young kids -they know what it's like and how important convenience is. They know that these little touches of style and culinary treats are a necessity in every household and that you cannot live on cottage pie and peanut butter sandwiches for keeps. I felt really fancy dishing this up for the family. Totes better than fish fingers. 

I'll be posting more recipes for while now. And I'm working on the perrrrfect three course meal - something every gal and guy should have up their sleeve for meeting the parents, having the boss' family over for dinner, an anniversary, a first dinner date or just for spoiling your family and the people you love in general. You can visit the NoMU online shop here - and they have gift boxes. Happy almost-Mother's-Day to me!