No Fire Extinguisher Needed Here

I picked this recipe because I was getting tired of picking chicken and noodle dishes. When I read over the recipe, I got super excited because it involves setting rosemary on fire! How exotic is that? Nutritionally speaking, Paula Deen's Fired Up Rosemary Salmon isn't that bad to start off with and didn't require much adjusting.

The only difference between my version and the original is I used Smart Balance Light Margarine instead of butter. But the original only uses 1 tablespoon for 10 servings so it's really not much per serving. I used a dash of lemon juice because I already had it and didn't want to make a trip to the store, just to get a couple of lemons.

Once you take the salmon out of the oven, you're supposed to light the 'oven roasted' rosemary on fire and let the ashes fall onto the salmon. Sounds like fun, right? But mine was damp from the lemon juice or the steam and wouldn't catch on fire. So then my BF tried to light and uncooked one, but it wasn't dry enough so it wouldn't catch either. After multiple attempts, I gave up and just ate the salmon as it was. It was okay. It was just lemon-y salmon. Not nearly as exciting as I though a fired up salmon would taste.

Note the still green, unburnt rosemary.

What do you do to bounce back from a bad recipe?

Nutritionally, there's not much difference. The tub margarine provided the same amount of fat, but less saturated fat than butter.

Nutritional Information (OLD) Nutritional Information (NEW) Servings Per Recipe: 10 Servings Per Recipe: 10 Amount Per Serving Amount Per Serving Calories: 427 Calories: 427 Fat: 19 g Fat: 19 g Sodium: 128 mg Sodium: 140 mg Fiber: 1 g Fiber: 1 g

My rating:

Taste: No rating (It's hard to judge the taste because my final recipe was missing a main ingredient-the burned rosemary ashes!)

Waist: Tighten the belt a notch (I know it's high in fat, but it's coming from heart healthy sources like salmon and the plant oils in the margarine, so I think it's a good recipe in terms of health)

Here's the recipe:

Try to Light it Rosemary Salmon

1 salmon filet, about 5 lbs

1 tablespoon Smart Balance Margarine

pepper, to taste

2-3 bunches rosemary sprigs

lemon or orange slices

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Place the salmon skin side down on tin foil, making sure the pin bones have been removed. Season with butter and pepper. Place the springs of rosemary and lemon slices over the salmon so that they are overlapping and form a tent over the salmon. Wrap each salmon in tin foil and roast 15 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches 145 degrees.

Remove the salmon from the oven and bring to a well ventilated outdoor area. Light the oven dried rosemary on fire over the salmon. Let the ash fall over the salmon, leaving streaks of concentrated rosemary flavor.