Lemon Salmon with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Today after work I wanted to work out, cook dinner, and relax. I was so tired that by the time I got home all I wanted to do was take a nap. Lupe convinced me to go for a run and since the weather was so nice, I couldn't say no. For dinner we had baked lemon salmon, mashed sweet potatoes, and a mixed green salad with honey balsamic vinaigrette.

For the salmon, I preheated the oven to 350* and lined a baking pan with tinfoil. I brushed the salmon with olive oil, diced garlic and a little salt and pepper. I topped the salmon with lemon slices and baked it in the oven for 15 minutes.

Ready for the oven!

To make the mashed sweet potatoes, I baked one medium sweet potato in the oven along side the salmon until it was fork tender. Meanwhile, I heated one teaspoon of olive oil and one teaspoon of butter in a small saucepan. After the butter melted, I added 1/4 cup diced onion, 1/4 cup diced red pepper, 1 teaspoon brown sugar, salt, pepper, and a little cinnamon. I sauteed everything together until the onions were nice and caramelized. When the potato was finished I mashed it together with 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of skim milk and mixed everything together until it was nice and creamy. I finished the dish with fresh chives for some freshness.

Caramelized onions and red peppers

Mashed Sweet Potatoes! The only thing that could make these better is bacon :)

For the salad, see the recipe that I made last week. Instead of the pear champagne vinaigrette, I mixed 1 teaspoon of aged balsamic vinegar with one tablespoon of honey. I am obsessed with this salad, it is so good :).

Yum!

For dessert I picked up some sweet mint chocolate ice cream gum to enjoy while browsing recipes in Rachel Ray's magazine. We'll see if the gum satisfies my sweet tooth. I seriously have my doubts.

Dessert gum...what do you think?