Cedar Plank Salmon & Fresh Basil Tomato Pasta

Found a beautiful piece of wild sockeye salmon at the store on Saturday and made a really nice grilled salmon and pasta dinner that night. Also had fresh basil from the garden so made a tomato/basil side dish. I love grilled fish and this is a really easy recipe and quite fun to serve up to guests.

Cedar Plank Salmon

• 1 lb of salmon filet (with skin)
• 1 cedar plank (1 ft board works well)
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 pinch of red pepper flakes
• Wood chips (optional)

Soak the plank in water for an hour ( I weigh my planks down so the wood is immersed in water). Preheat a gas grill to high; adjust to medium low after 15 minutes. Mix the sugar, oil, thyme and pepper flakes in a bowl. Lay the salmon skin side down on plank. Coat with sugar topping. Place salmon on grill, cover and cook for about 25 minutes or until meat is flaky. (Todd also added cherry woodchips to the coals for extra smokiness....)

Pasta with Fresh Tomato and Basil (for 2)

• 1/2 lb of Angel Hair Pasta
• 2 tsp olive oil and 1 tsp butter
• 1 large tomato, skinned and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves chopped
• 1 1/2 tbs of fresh basil
• Pinch of fresh oregano and rosemary
• 1/2 cup of chicken broth
• Salt and pepper to taste

Bring water to boil. Drop tomato in until skin begins to peel away. Remove tomato, run under cool water to peel rest of skin. Using still boiling tomato water, cook the angel hair pasta

In a medium-hot and non-stick pan bring oil and butter to melting. Add garlic and tomato, stir about 1 minute. Add basil and other herbs, stir. Add chicken broth and bring to a simmer. Drain the pasta and add to the pan. Stir all the ingredients - serve immediately.