Creole Contessa: Lemon Pepper Salmon with Lemon Butter Rice

It's a great time of year for citrus.  Every time I go to the grocery store lately, there are these big heaps of yellow and orange fruits.  Shiny nubbly skins just waiting to be peeled.  So of course I want to buy these beautiful ripe citrus, parading saucily before me.  But then you actually have to do something with them.  So I decided I would do a dinner with lemon.  Lemon juice in the rice, lemon slices on the fish, and lemon pepper seasoning all around.  It was fantastic and refreshing and just the right dinner for the beginning of spring.

Note:  The rice mixture is really more a result of digging up the odds and ends of the rice in my pantry than any sort of actual planning or intent.  However, the arborio added a really nice creaminess and the basmati stayed a little more firm, so the texture overall was the best of both worlds.

Lemon Pepper Salmon with Lemon Butter Rice
Adapted from Creole Contessa blog

Rice:
2 cups chicken broth
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons dried parsley
½ teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
⅛ teaspoon onion powder
⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
Juice of ½ lemon
½ cup basmati rice
¼ cup arborio rice
Sea salt

Fish:
1 pound salmon fillets
1 teaspoon lemon pepper seasoning
1 teaspoon Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic seasoning or other Cajun seasoning
½ teaspoon garlic powder
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lemon, sliced

For rice: In a medium pot, bring the chicken broth, butter, parsley, lemon pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, and lemon juice to a boil.  Add the two rices and stir well.  Reduce heat to low and cover.  Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until almost all of the liquid is absorbed.  Turn off heat and leave the pot covered for another 5 to 10 minutes to allow the rice to absorb the remaining liquid.  Season with salt to taste.

For fish: Preheat oven to 375°F.  Spray a baking pan with cooking spray and lay the salmon fillets on the pan.  Sprinkle evenly with the lemon pepper, blackening seasoning, and garlic powder.  Cut butter into ¼-inch pats, and lay them evenly over the fish fillets.  Place the lemon slices evenly over the butter.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until fish is desired doneness and flakes easily with a fork.  Serve with the lemon rice.

Makes 4 servings