Shortly after telling my husband I was working on a recipe for Falafel Spiced Tomatoes and Salmon, I served him the above dish. He poked around the plate and looked at me with a sad face. “Where are the falafels?” he asked. I explained that “falafel spiced” was a qualifying adjective for the roasted tomatoes. There are no actual falafels in this recipe. The tomatoes are roasted in the same spices that are used in the making of falafels. He was pretty impressed with the fact that I was able to name the correct part of speech.
This recipe is inspired by a Joshua McFadden recipe for Falafel Spiced Tomatoes and Chickpeas on Flatbread, that I bookmarked in August of 2015 and have been meaning to make for the past 3 Septembers when heirloom tomatoes are at their most glorious. Given that we are smack in the middle of January, I decided to use rainbow grape tomatoes and just roast them with the falafel spices (garlic, sumac, ground cumin and corriander and red pepper flakes).
I started the salmon fillets, skin side down in a hot pan with melted butter, to get the skin really crispy. Baste the flesh with the melted butter once or twice, then transfer pan to hot oven to finish cooking.
The tomatoes are so flavourful, that I kept the seasoning on the salmon simple, just salt and pepper. Something green on the plate will make you feel virtuous! I went with sauteed green beans and some toasted salted almonds. Some chopped mint, parsley and cilantro, if you like it, are also welcome.
