Five-Spice-Glazed Salmon with Sesame Green Beans

The worst part about being a "food-blogger" (if that's what I am) is getting a good picture. I find myself making dinner early in the evening so that I don't lose the natural light that comes in my kitchen window in order to get a decent picture.  Then I have to "set-up" the shot before I actually give the plate of food to my hungry husband.  He's actually used to it by now, but still.

And now it's getting close to Fall which means I'll have to start feeding him at 4:00pm like he's 70 years old.  It's a conundrum, I tell you.  It's easy with desserts.  I can make those early in the day, construct this creative set-up, and take several different shots.  No one is sitting around waiting to be fed their main meal of the day.

All that hyperbole was an effort to explain away the crappy photo of tonight's dinner.  To be clear, it's just the photo that was crappy....not the dinner.  It was delicious.  And it's all cooked in about 6 minutes on one pan.  How appealing is that?

I saw this recipe in the Oct/Nov issue of Fine Cooking and was drawn to it because of the addition of five-spice powder.  Remember when I had to use it in these cookies because I didn't have any ginger?  Well, I was dying to try it in a savory dish.  This one seemed like a great place to start!  It was.  I loved the whole combination of the ingredients....the great caramelization from the honey and the hint of heat from the five-spice powder was perfect.

And don't get me started on the green beans.  I hated green beans as a child.  The ones that were cooked for about three weeks with some sort of ham.  Yuck.  I could never get past the horrible smell coming from the kitchen in the summer when my mom had beans to get rid of from the garden.  Ohhhh....the mushiness.  {shudder}.

Not the case with these.  They're tossed in a little canola and sesame oil, broiled for about six minutes and then sprinkled with some lemon juice and toasted sesame seeds.  Perfectly crunchy and flavorful.  Real green beans.  Sorry, mom.

So make this for dinner tonight.  It will take you less than 30 minutes to get on your table.

Five-Spice-Glazed Salmon with Sesame Green Beans

Fine Cooking 

Serves 4

Ingredients:
1/4 cup honey
4 tsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp five-spice powder (I got mine at Fresh Market but I've seen it at Publix)
2 large cloves garlic, minced
4 6-oz skin-on salmon filets (Whole Foods had great looking salmon steaks, so I used those)
Non-stick cooking spray
1 lb slender green beans, trimmed
2 tsp canola oil
1 tsp Asian sesame oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbs toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp lemon juice

In a small bowl, whisk the honey, soy sauce, five-spice powder and garlic.  Put the salmon skin side down on a large plate and pour the honey mixture over it.  Flip the filets so they are skin-side up.  Let the fish marinate for 15 minutes at room temperature.

Position a rack 6 inches from the broiler and heat the broiler on high.  Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and coat with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, toss the green beans with the canola and sesame oils.  Arrange the beans on one half of the prepared baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.  Arrange the salmon skin side down on the other half of the baking sheet.  Brush the salmon with any remaining marinade from the plate.

Broil the salmon and green beans for 3 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven, toss the green beans with tongs, and position the salmon pieces as needed so that they cook evenly.  Continue to broil until the salmon is just cooked through and the beans are crisp-tender, 2 to 3 minutes.  Toss the green beans with the sesame seeds and lemon juice and serve.