*Copper river salmon, y’all!
It’s wild salmon season! Maybe it’s having been born and raised in the Northwest, but even as a vegan-leaning person, I have a hard time giving up salmon. I’ve already done a salmon recipe on here, but I’m always trying to figure out new ways to make it.
I make salmon about every other week for the family I cook for. I’ve been cooking for them for about 9 months. I’ve probably made salmon 72 times this past year. I’ve seared it, grilled it, baked it low and slow, baked it at a super high temp, baked it covered, uncovered, etc. and so forth.
Here’s what I’ve learned!
1. Making a paste with some combination of herbs, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and oil is the way to go.
2. Baking is better than searing. Grilling is awesome, but I don’t always want to deal with a grill.
3. I’ve found that the optimal baking temperature is 400-425 degrees. I cook the fish uncovered for 10-12 minutes depending on the fillet size. Fish doesn’t need long, so check on it if you’re not sure. To check if you’re salmon is done, you can do two things. 1) Press on it gently. It should feel firm and slightly resistant. Too firm and it’s overdone. 2) Stick a knife blade through the thickest part. Pull it out, and press the blade against your lip. If the blade feels hot, it’s done. Easy, right?
This recipe comes from my brain.* God, I love fresh dill. I also love lemon. I also love garlic. There seemed to be no reason that all 3 shouldn’t be combined in some easy way to put all over some beautiful salmon. I bet you could rock this on some halibut if you aren’t into salmon.
garlic, dill, lemon salmon
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 pounds salmon
2-3 cloves garlic
Handful of dill – chopped fine
Zest of one large lemon
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1-2 Tbl. olive oil
Kosher salt
Pepper
This is so easy it hardly needs a recipe.
Preheat your oven to 425 (or grill it)
Get out a small bowl. Zest your lemon into it. Press your garlic into the bowl (a garlic press works really well for this recipe, you could also mince it and use a mortar and pestle). Chop up your
dill super fine and add it to the mix. Squeeze half a lemon into the bowl. Scoop in at least a teaspoon of kosher salt (more if you’re a big salt fan). Grind up some pepper over that (to taste). Glug about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil into the bowl. Stir it all up. It should be thick and paste-like, not too thin and oily. If you added too much lemon juice or oil, you can always add more garlic, salt, and dill (you could use the extra paste on some veggies and roast em’).
Rub the paste all over the salmon fillets (as seen above). Place in baking dish (it can be a pyrex 9×10 thing, or a cookie sheet, or whatever). Bake for 10-12 minutes or until done.
I like to serve this with a horseradish or a mustard sauce. Both of which are also super easy to make. To your liking, use a combination of mayo, plain greek yogurt, whole grain mustard or prepared horseradish, a little apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper, stir, yum.
*I’m sure there are lots of recipes like this out there. If so, hoorah! Great minds think alike, and I in no way intend to take credit for inventing this combination of ingredients. I just don’t have an existing recipe to attribute it to.