With just minutes from prep to table, this delicious, elegant, and super-nutritious meal can be on your table, being hungrily devoured. As it should be.
When Sherry’s son and daughter-in-law, Jeremiah and Brooke, and their cute, tow-headed little three-year-old Ellie were here visiting, Brooke, who’s very beautiful, revealed to me that one of the secrets to her youthful appearance is that she insists her family eat salmon twice a week.
“I don’t believe so much in Botox,” she said, “as I do in salmon.”
Brooke taught some of her favorite fast salmon dishes while they were here—really fast, delicious ways of cooking with salmon that, say, a busy mother of two children with a husband getting his Ph.D. in A.I. and working full-time would need.
Luckily, salmon is already a delectable fish. It just needs a few simple additions, like lemon, olive oil, and your favorite herbs, added at just the right moment so that the flavors of that luscious, healthy salmon shine through. Our healthy, delicious sides are detailed below.
And that’s what aboutamom.com is all about—finding and sharing meals with you like this that are super-delicious and fast, easy fixes that make dinner a joy and not a chore.
Why You and Your Family Will Love This Easy Salmon
Salmon is one of the quickest and easiest fishes you can bake, and it crisps to the flaking point easily.
Brooke taught me that with this recipe, when you drizzle that salmon with olive oil in Step 4, something magic happens. That oil not only seeps into the top of the salmon flesh, but it also drizzles all down and around it. It pools on that parchment paper where it just sizzles that salmon skin on the bottom, making it all crispy and delicious. Meanwhile, the lemon and olive oil that seeps into the top of the salmon keep the flesh moist, tender, and flavorful, coaxing all the best flavors in salmon right out of it.
So, note our 12 to 15-minute cook time below in Step 6. You’ll want to start checking your salmon fillet (which may vary in thickness) at the 12-minute mark. If it is firm when you poke it but still looks just a bit moist on top, go ahead and take it out. As it steams atop your cooking rack, you can get out your big serving plate and slide that fish off the paper and onto the plate.
This Easy Salmon might be an easy fix, sure—but it sure makes for a stunning presentation—that beautiful pink salmon topped with all those luscious, baked lemon slices, just seeping their tart juices all over that succulent salmon flesh, with all your favorite herbs complementing the oily crispy skin just so.
How to Make Ahead and Store?
You can freeze unbaked salmon for 3 months. You can also freeze leftovers of Easy Baked Salmon for just as long, but I suggest enjoying them within 30 days for the best quality. To do so, you’ll want to let that salmon cool before wrapping it in plastic wrap and then move it to a freezer bag with all the air rolled out of it. Label and date it for food safety reasons.
Serving Suggestions
With this simple but elegant dish, I serve sides that cook just as fast and look just as beautiful. First, Roasted Asparagus with Mushrooms. A stunning salad looks lovely here, especially this delicate Butter Lettuce, Goat Cheese, and Citrus Salad. For dessert, another simple stunner: this easy Cherry Crumble Tortoni, which looks so beautifully miniature and elegant and is done in less than 25 minutes.
If you like this Easy Salmon, you’ll love these fish recipes, too: Easy Fish Sticks, this Delicious Roasted Cod, and this really yummy Canned Salmon Salad, which leaves your basic tuna sandwich in the dust.
Baked Salmon Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 salmon fillets 6 ounces each
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dried herbs such as Italian seasoning or herbs de Provence
- 1 lemon sliced into rounds
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy cleanup.
- Place the salmon fillets on the prepared baking sheet, skin-side down.
- Drizzle olive oil evenly over each fillet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and dried herbs.
- Top each fillet with a couple of lemon slices.
- Bake in the preheated oven for about 12-15 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork.
- Serve immediately.
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