Pan-Seared Salmon

Ingredients:
Two 8-ounce salmon fillets, without skin
1 tbsp coconut oil
Salt & fresh ground pepper, to taste

Pat the salmon fillet dry with a paper towel, and then season both sides of each fillet with salt and a generous amount of pepper. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering but not smoking. Add fillets to the skillet and cook until edges are opaque and bottoms are golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes for 1-inch thick fillets. Gently flip the fillets with a spatula and cook another 2 to 3 minutes, until it is firm yet tender and moist, and the flesh has become opaque with a slight translucence. Serve immediately garnished with chopped fresh parsley if desired. Serves two.

Tip: When is salmon cooked just right?

Cooking your salmon until it’s ‘flaky’, as commonly suggested, can result in overcooking. Here’s how to cook it just right: use a paring knife to peek inside the middle of the fillet. If the flesh is translucent, it is undercooked. If it is opaque and slightly flaky but still juicy, it is ready to serve. It is overcooked when the flesh falls apart and looks dry.