Friday, March 6, 2015

Happy to be Home (Oven Roasted Lemon/Herb Salmon & Asparagus – 5WW PPV)


Roasted Salmon and Asparagus.
Clean eating at its best.

The past two weeks have been a whirlwind of airports, convention centers and meetings that were preceded by months of preparation and an intense push to the finish line. First Las Vegas. Then Barcelona. The yin and yang of convention venues. 

While I thrive on this kind of work, nothing feels better than coming home and getting back to normal. After arriving home in the wee hours of the morning, I took a mental (and physical) health day. It was wonderful to sleep in, unpack, check in with the dry cleaners and make a much needed run to Whole Foods for fish, and Harris Teeter for basic pantry and fridge supplies.  Among my purchases: the salmon and asparagus that became the perfect dinner to chase away that yicky feeling that comes from too many restaurant meals.

Barcelona was beautiful
and our meetings were successful
but there is no place like home.
Steve and a buddy escaped the cold weather for a little Florida Baseball Spring Training and golf, so I’m a solo act and hence the single dinner portion.  However, you can easily multiply the quantities to feed as many folks as you need to feed.  

As always, I encourage playing around with the herbs and other flavors – in fact, I think I’m going to do a riff on this with sea bass, cilantro, jalapeƱo, orange and lime tomorrow. 




Oven Roasted Lemon/Herb Salmon & Asparagus (5 WW PPV)
(Serves 1, double, triple or quadruple as needed)

Ingredients:
  • 1 salmon filet, skin on if possible (4 oz = 5 WW PPV if that matters to you)  (I’ve said it a million times – if you are buying fish, buy the very best and freshest fish you can.  For me, that means Whole Foods or a local fish monger. Yes, you will pay a bit more.  If you are watching your pennies, enjoy a smaller portion, but make it the best.  Sermon over.)
  • 1 TBS Lemon Juice
  • 1 TBS Lemon Zest
  • 2 or 3 shakes garlic powder
  • 1 tsp or so of dried oregano
  • 1 ½ tsp or so of dried thyme
  • 1 TBS of fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tsp maple syrup
  • Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Pepper
  • 6 to 8 stalks of Asparagus, woody end trimmed off
  • Cooking Spray

Method:
  • Heat the oven to 400 degrees
  • Line a cooking sheet with aluminum foil and spray it with cooking spray
  • Place the fish (skin side down) and the asparagus on the tray – season liberally with salt and pepper and spray lightly with the cooking spray
  • Place the tray in the oven and cook for 13 minutes
  • While the fish is cooking, mix the rest of the ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well to soften the dried herbs
  • When the timer dings @ 13 minutes, remove the fish and asparagus from the oven and top the fish with the herb lemon mixture
  • Return the fish and asparagus to the oven and continue cooking another 3 to 5 minutes, depending upon the thickness of the fish – touch it to test for doneness, you want it to just give to a light pressure and not be too soft – but equally important, you don’t want it to be hard.  (Nothing is worse than over cooked fish!)
  • When the fish is done,  place the asparagus on a plate and then gently slide a spatula between the skin and the flesh, laying the fish atop the asparagus to serve. 


Enjoy!