Salmon with Yogurt Dill Sauce

A while back, my husband took a business trip to San Diego. When he landed back home, the first thing he wanted to talk about was a salmon dish he'd eaten during a business meeting. The sauce served with the salmon had left a lasting impression, and he wanted to know if I could recreate the recipe.

It took some experimenting, but I did come up with a nice sauce, although quite possibly nothing like its original inspiration since all my husband could tell me about it was that it was white and not too thick. My version had sour cream as its base, which is all well and good, except for my new efforts to cook healthier. See, we love sour cream here in the Cats and Casseroles household. Loooove sour cream. Anything we can top with sour cream, we will. It's not the healthiest of habits. When I did the math, that old salmon sauce turned out to be a whopper of calories and saturated fats.

I think it's apparent I'm not a health food junkie. But I'm also not the type of cook who relishes in drowning ingredients in butter and cream. I think there's a middle ground. I hope recipes like this will help me get there.

For my new healthier sauce, I've replaced the sour cream with fat-free Greek yogurt. Unlike most reduced fat dairy products, Greek yogurt manages to remain thick and creamy. I kept the ingredient list simple, as not to strangle the dill flavor. I've noticed that different brands of Greek yogurt (I used Oikos) have a different level of tang to them. Depending on your taste preferences, you might want to add a little lemon juice to the mix.

SALMON WITH YOGURT DILL SAUCE

• 1 1/2 lb salmon, preferably a thick cut
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 lemon, thinly sliced

• 1/2 c fat-free Greek yogurt
• 1 1/4 tsp dried dill
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut your salmon into four equal portions and transfer to a 9 x 13 glass baking dish. Brush olive oil over salmon and season with salt and pepper. Top each piece of salmon with one or two lemon slices. Bake in preheated oven for 10-15 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fish. Once out of oven, let salmon rest in dish for a minute or two. Squeeze lemon slices over salmon and discard.

3. In small mixing bowl, combine yogurt, dill, salt and pepper. Spoon over salmon. Serve immediately.

Source: Cats and Casseroles original recipe