I'm a working girl. I also like to cook. Unfortunately, these two statements are often at odds with each other, especially after a long day at the office. There are some days when I'm just so exhausted that nothing but delivery will do! But when I have some energy yet not much time, I often rely on this quick and easy salmon recipe from a cookbook I purchased during my last visit to the Aloha State! Cookbooks from places I've traveled are my number one favorite souvenir, and Hawaii is my number one favorite destination!

What I like about this recipe is that I already had all of the ingredients in my pantry. The one "non-conventional" ingredient for some might be nori furikake - available at Asian supermarkets and a greater number of conventional supermarkets these days, I love this stuff. And one container will last you a while! Anyway - back to the salmon....yum.

You will need:

Nori Furikake Salmon
(from Jean Hee's Best of the Best Hawaii Recipes)

• Salmon fillet (I used a rather large-ish one and finished the whole thing. Girl's gotta eat!)
• Mayonnaise
• Nori furikake
• 3 tbsp butter (1 for salmon, 2 for sauce)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tbsp sugar

1. Generously spread mayonnaise on one side of salmon. Sprinkle furikake generously over mayo.

2. Heat pan on medium heat and add 1 tbsp butter. Place salmon furikake-side down, lower heat to medium-low, and slowly cook for 10-15 minutes.

3. While cooking, spread mayo and furikake on top.

4. Turn over and cook other side for additional 10 minutes or until done. Remove salmon from pan.

5. To make the sauce, melt 2 tbsp butter in the pan, add garlic and stir. Blend in soy sauce and sugar and simmer for 1-2 minutes. Pour over cooked salmon.

This is a perfect weeknight meal - minimal preparation (only mincing the garlic, really), common ingredients, and easy easy easy! I keep a bag of salmon fillets in my freezer - if I know it's going to be a long day at work, I just take a fillet out and thaw it in the fridge so it will be ready for cooking when I get home. I had finished all of my King's Hawaiian Original Hawaiian Sweet Hamburger Buns when I last made this (they are so good, I eat them straight out of the bag :) ), so I served the salmon over rice. But these make FABULOUS salmon burgers! And besides being super simple and delicious, the soy sauce, garlic and nori are wonderfully nostalgic flavors that remind me of Asian home cooking and Hawaii. What more can you ask for after a long day?