Oven-Roasted Salmon, Asparagus and New Potatoes

My dad pulled out a favorite recipe* today to make and share with “the people on the website.” A “discussion” then ensued between the rental units for at least half an hour along the lines of “What do you mean this is a favorite recipe? You always told me you didn’t like salmon.” “What are you talking about? I used to make this all the time.” “You’ve never made it in this house!…” and so on and so on. Turns out my mother’s preferred method of cooking any fish is to pan-fry it, coated with cornmeal. Pan-frying salmon tends to leave odoriferous remnants (it stinks up the house) which my father really doesn’t appreciate. Likely he did cook it often enough, just not when mom was around, lest she get ideas about cooking salmon herself. Just a theory of course, I didn’t stick around to see the outcome of this particular chat…

According to the notes accompanying this recipe indicate that cooking fish at a high temperature in the oven seals in the flavor and helps get dinner out quickly. Excellent, easy dish.

Oven-Roasted Salmon, Asparagus and New Potatoes Recipe

• Prep time: 10 minutes
• Cook time: 32 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4.

Ingredients

• 1 pound (450 g)small new potatoes, scrubbed clean and halved
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• Kosher salt
• 1/2 pound (225 g) medium asparagus, trimmed and sliced on the diagonal, 1-inch long pieces
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh dill
• 1 strip of lemon zest
• 1 small garlic clove, coarsely chopped
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 (8-to-10 ounce, or 225-to-285 g) salmon fillets, or steaks cut about 1-inch thick
• 1 lemon, cut into large wedges

Method

1 Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C). In a large, shallow roasting pan (not glass, as it might break in an oven that hot) toss the potatoes with olive oil and sprinkle all over with salt. Place the potatoes cut side down in the roasting pan and cook for 10-12 minutes, until the potatoes begin to brown on the bottom. Turn the potatoes over and roast another 10 minutes until browned on top. Remove the roasting pan from the oven.

2 In a medium bowl, toss the asparagus with the chopped dill, lemon zest, garlic, about 1/2 teaspoon of salt and a little olive oil. Add the asparagus mixture to the potatoes and stir to combine.

3 Push the vegetables to the side of the dish to make room for the salmon. If you are using fillets, put them skin side down. Salt the salmon well and return the baking dish to the oven. Roast the salmon and asparagus for 10 minutes, or until the fish is just cooked through.

If you want, remove the skin and center bones (if you are using steaks), and arrange on individual plates before serving. Garnish with fresh dill and lemon wedges.

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