Carrot and zucchini noodles with salmon and basil chimichurry

[Vian]

Threw this together randomly the other night and it was surprisingly good, so i figured I'd write up an actual recipe. This is kind of a "meal for one" dish, but it can be doubled or tripled to feed more.

 

2-3 leafy sprigs of fresh basil

1/2 lemon

3 cloves garlic

2-4 tbs. oil of choice

2 carrots

2 zucchini

1 6-8oz. salmon fillet

2 slices of raw bacon (plus extra rendered bacon grease)

 

Cut the bacon into lardons and put them in a cold pan. Turn the heat on to medium. While the pan comes up to temp, put the basil, the juice from the half lemon, garlic, a pinch of salt and a drizzle of oil (I didn't measure) in a food processor and process until the basil is well broken down. Take a couple spoonfulls of the chimichurry and spread it across the salmon to marinate for a few minutes. Keep an eye on the bacon and let it crisp up. When the fat is rendered and the bacon is crispy, remove it to a paper towel to drain and set aside. Remove the pan from the heat for now. Using a vegetable peeler, hold the carrots against the cutting board by the stem-end and run the peeler down to the tip. Repeat several times forming long, wide ribbons until you are about halfway through the carrot, then flip it over and repeat on the other side. Do the same to the zucchini, only rotate the zucchini a little after each noodle. I stop when I hit the seeds in the zucchini, but you can keep going as far as you like. 

 

Put the zucchini noodles in a colander and sprinkle with salt to pull out the moisture. Place the pan back on the heat and once it is warm, add the salmon and cook until it is your preferred done-ness. Remove and set aside and add the carrot noodles and the extra bacon grease. sautee the carrot noodles until they are soft and flexible, but not over cooked and breaking apart. Press the extra moisture out of the zucchini noodles (use a clean kitchen towel) and add them to the pan to heat through. Dice the salmon and add back to the pan along with the remaining chimichurry and stir gently until everything is coated. Serve with the crispy bacon on top.