Salmon Semplice

Sweet jellybeans, do I love salmon! With all the different ways to prepare it, I could eat salmon every day of the week. I say that because I haven't been in the position of being forced to eat salmon for dinner every day. I'm pretty sure that if I was, I'd change my opinion pretty darn quickly. But until that happens, I'll eat salmon as often as I want, thank you very much.

While it's fun to doll up salmon with all kinds of herby frills and savory sauces, sometimes it's a nice change of pace to keep it simple. Just a little salt and pepper is all you need to make a piece of salmon melt in your mouth. In fact, a simple salmon can be the shining star of an equally simple but delicious meal that is so easy to make that it will knock your socks off and make your tummy truly happy. The standby meal in this house is broiled salmon, mashed potatoes and sautéed zucchini.


You will need:

• one salmon fillet
• one russet potato
• one small/medium zucchini
• salt & pepper
• olive oil
• butter
• milk or cream

Crank the broiler in the oven up to 425° and start a medium pot of water boiling.

Protip #1: Water boils faster if you actually turn on the stove.

Photo by Paul.

Cut the zucchini lengthwise, then chop it into moon-shaped chunks, about an inch long. Place them in a bowl, sprinkle liberally with kosher salt, and set it aside.

Photo by Paul.

Place the salmon on a cookie sheet. I like to use a sheet of parchment paper to prevent sticking. You don't have to, but if you'd rather spend time scraping salmon skin off your cookware, be my guest. Season with salt and pepper. Set it aside.

Photo by Paul.

I used russet potatoes last night, but really, any kind will work. If you like smooth and creamy mashed potatoes, peel the potatoes. If you don't, leave the skins on. Cut the potatoes into 1-1/2" chunks, making sure they are all about the same size. If they aren't, some will cook much more quickly than the others.

Here comes the easy part:

Your water should be boiling by now. If it isn't, refer to Protip #1. I learned that the hard way last night. Dump the potatoes in the water.

Put the salmon in the oven under the broiler. Set the timer for about 9 minutes. This cook time is largely dependent on the size of your fish and how done you like it.

Get out a frying pan and heat some olive oil over medium-high heat. Drain your zucchini. This is crucial! The salt you sprinkled earlier will have pulled out a lot of moisture, and if you just dump the bowl into the pan of hot oil, you're going to have a bad time. Remember: hot oil + water = spatter. So, drain your zucchini, then dump it in the frying pan. Sauté until golden brown.

Photo by Paul.

By the time your zucchini is done, your potatoes should be soft, and you should be able to easily pierce them with a fork. Drain the potatoes, then return them to the pot. Add lots of butter and milk (or cream, if you're feeling particularly decadent) to make them as smooth as you like. In my case, I realized as I was mashing my potatoes that I had neither milk nor cream. That's where an entire stick of butter came in handy.

Protip #2: Butter melts much better in hot potatoes than in cold potatoes. Seriously, don't leave the potatoes for last. The salmon will sit just as nicely on the pan as it will the plate, so plate it last.

Photo by Paul.

Ta-da! There you have it, a tasty, relatively healthy meal (if you ignore the stick of butter in the potatoes) that was a snap to make.

There are three things I particularly like about this meal:

1. It's fast. Chopping some zucchini and potatoes takes just a couple minutes. It takes even less time if you don't have a five month-old who wakes up screaming thanks to the ridiculous thunderstorm outside. Once all the food is in their respective pots and pans, cook time is maybe ten minutes. A fantastic meal in under twenty minutes! Ha, Rachel Ray, I beat you!
2. It's cheap. I always keep salt, pepper, butter and olive oil on hand. So the only ingredients I needed to buy at the store were the salmon, potatoes and zucchini. Here was my bill from Shop Rite: Silverbrite salmon fillets: $3.53 ... russet potatoes: $1.47 ... zucchini: $0.81. That's a whopping $5.81 for two people.
3. It's customizable. Don't like salmon? Use tilapia, or catfish, or scrod. Whatever. Like your potatoes a little healthier? Don't use an entire stick of butter to cream it up. Prefer grilled zucchini to sautéed? Grill your heart out. The important thing is that you have a protein, a carb, and a veg. Also, it's super easy to make this meal for any number of people. My recipe up there calls for enough food to feed one person. All I had to do to make sure my husband was fed, too, was to double everything. Except for mashed potatoes. He loves mashed potatoes, so he got extra.

Photo by Paul.