When you come across a recipe that covers not only the protein but also the vegetables, and it boasts that you can get things done in about 30 minutes, you have to try it, right? RIGHT?!?!
Slow-Baked Salmon with Warm Potato Salad
Equipment
- 1 Casserole dish just large enough to fit the fillets in one layer
- 1 Small Bowl
- 1 large bowl
Ingredients
- 1 naval orange
- ¼ c olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic 2 smashed, 2 minced
- ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
- Kosher salt
- Ground Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp finely chopped fresh tarragon divided
- 4 skin-on salmon fillets about 6 oz each
- 1½ lb baby Yukon Gold potatoes quartered
- ½ lb fresh green beans trimmed and cut on an angle into 1-inch pieces
- 1 small shallot minced
- 1 Tbsp grainy mustard
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°. Remove 5 wide strips of zest from the orange with a vegetable peeler, and add to a small casserole dish. Add olive oil, smashed garlic cloves, ½ teaspoon each of salt and pepper, and red pepper flakes to the casserole dish. Finely grate the remaining zest and place in a small bowl. Juice the orange into a large bowl, then add shallot, mustard and 1 tablespoon of the tarragon, and set aside. Add remaining tablespoon of the tarragon and the minced garlic cloves to the small bowl with zest, and season with salt and pepper.
- Put the potatoes in a large pot and cover with water by 2 inches; season generously with salt. Bring to a boil; cook until the potatoes are fork-tender, about 25 minutes, adding the green beans for the final 5 minutes. Drain.
- Place the salmon skin-side down in the casserole dish and top with the tarragon-orange mixture. Bake until the salmon is cooked through but slightly pink in the middle, about 25 minutes.
- Divide the salmon among plates. Strain the oil from the casserole dish into the large bowl with the orange juice mixture; season with salt and pepper, then add the potatoes and green beans to the dressing, tossing well. Let stand until the potatoes have absorbed some of the dressing, about 3 minutes. Serve with the salmon.
Here’s my problem with Salmon-based recipes. I don’t know what type of salmon I should be looking for at the grocery store. There are just so many different options, at a wide range of prices. I’m pretty sure I’ve tried at least three options, and I couldn’t tell you which one is best for each recipe I’ve tried.
So, you do you.
Meanwhile, instead of the cubed Yukon potatoes, I instead went for this brand of bagged teeny potatoes called Tasteful Selections, which removed the need for me to cube anything, AND, they were pretty close to bite-sized. Win!
I also took the easy way of grabbing a bag of fresh green beans that indicated that they were ready to be cooked, having been put through a wash and trim already.
Already, lots of time being saved! So far so good with their “Hey, make this recipe! It’s healthy and it’s FAST!” theme.
In fact, the most work I had to do was to strip an orange of the 5 lines of zest, zest and juice said orange, cut the shallot, and mince the tarragon. And let me tell you, I’m not a fan of having to mince any fresh herbs. I just haven’t figured out the best way to get that done.
But overall, the recipe came together pretty darn fast. I did modify it a bit, as no one likes to reheat fish, so I dropped the amount of protein by half. In the future I’ll also drop the amount of the mixture put on top of the fish prior to baking, as it was almost TOO herbaceous for us.
Still, this recipe is a good one, and we’ll be doing it again!