Super Simple Honey, Lemon + Herbed Baked Salmon
Honey, Lemon + Herbed Baked Salmon
*serves 3-6
Salmon is an easy weeknight meal that provides protein and heart and brain healthy OMEGA-3 fatty acids. It’s a powerful food that bakes in the oven in minutes. It’s one of those “no excuses” meals when it comes to cooking.
This super simple salmon is made with a marinade that doubles as a vinaigrette for salads or steamed vegetables. I love to make a batch of the marinade and keep it in the refrigerator to use over the course of a few days.
Start to prepare the meal by making the honey, lemon and herbed marinade is made with loads of fresh garlic, parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, a douse of good extra virgin olive oil, honey, salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Here we have three 6 ounce pieces of salmon that were purchased fresh but then frozen. Begin by patting the salmon dry with paper towels. After the salmon is mostly dry, place it on a baking sheet or in a baking dish and season it with salt and pepper. Sure, the marinade has salt and pepper in it, but it’s important to salt the fish prior to putting on the marinade to ensure proper flavor. The salt helps to release moisture (more water) from the fish and then the marinade can really soak into the flesh.
Liberally brush the salmon with a few tablespoons of marinade and you can also add lemon slices to the top of the fish or in the pan, for flavor and presentation.
The salmon bakes really quickly at 12 minutes in a 425 degree oven. See, no excuse to not cook!
Honey, Lemon + Herbed Baked Salmon
*serves 3-6
Ingredients
3-6 6 oz pieces of salmon, pat dry
Honey Lemon Herb Vinaigrette/Marinade
4 large cloves of garlic crushed or minced
1 1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh parsley finely chopped
2 tablespoons of honey
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 lemons
1/3 cup of olive oil
—Whisk all ingredients together and drizzle over a salad of your making
**I love this over salmon and grain salads in particular
Instructions
—Preheat oven to 400 degrees
—Arrange salmon on a baking tray or in a baking dish and season with salt and freshly ground pepper
—Brush liberally with the marinade (1/2 of the above recipe for 3 pieces, all of the marinade if you make all 6 pieces)
—Slice lemons and place on top of the salmon or in the tray / dish
—Bake for 12-15 minutes until salmon is flaky and cooked through
—Serve with additional olive oil or marinade and fresh lemons