Nutty Breaded Salmon

Once a week or so, I face the same moral dilemma.  My family goes through about one loaf of bread a week. We buy Dave's Killer Bread, usually the Good Seed variety. And good it is! The Cadillac of sandwich breads.

But every week, as the loaf starts to dwindle, I wrestle with my conscience about the same thing:  The heels. I can't blame my family for shunning them, as I am a heel-shunner myself.  I have tried to blame my husband for the waste but there's no getting around the hypocrisy there (even when I quickly point out that I'm rubber and he's glue).

Usually I make French toast with the heels, which is a clever way to disguise them.  Ok, actually, usually I think about making French toast, plan on making French toast, keep forgetting to make French toast, and then when I finally reach in the bag for the heels, they are moldy. 

But luckily I have found a second use for bread loaf heels, and it's even more clever than the first, if I do say so myself!

Nutty Breaded Salmon

3-4 filets of salmon, about 4-6 oz. each (I try to always keep a bag of frozen wild Alaskan salmon filets from Costco in the freezer.  They are great quality and they are individually vacuum-sealed, making salmon night so very, very accessible.)

2-3 pieces whole grain or sprouted grain bread (slightly stale loaf heels work beautifully)

1/4 cup pecans

1-2 tsp. olive oil (or a more adventurous oil? Olive is my standby)

Place filets in baking dish.  Salt and pepper them at your discretion.  Tear bread into pieces and combine nuts and bread pieces in food processor. Grind to coarse consistency.  Place mixture in a small bowl and slowly add oil while whisking with fork, adding only enough oil to barely moisten and coat mixture.  Salmon has it's own oils, not to be competed with by added ones. Only moisten the mixture so the bread crumbs don't burn!

Spoon mixture on top of fish and lightly pack down and level off with a fork.  I like to put a generous layer on top, as much as 1/2 inch thick. If it is high quality bread, it will enhance the meal and add on it's own that starchy component in a meal that is so mandatory in my family's dinners.

Bake salmon at 450 degrees until cooked to your preference, anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending on your oven and how you like your salmon.