Oven-Baked Fresh Salmon

Oven-Baked Fresh Salmon

This past weekend, Mr.S. took me and the kidlets on an impromptu field trip to the Nimbus Fish Hatchery so we could see all the salmon jumping about. It was quite incredible...salmon, salmon everywhere, as far as the eye could see! We were all pretty much in awe. I even took a few photos while we were there:

If you get a chance stop by there. Kidlets will love feeding the fish in the "nursery" tanks and watching the fish jump up the fish ladder.

So to celebrate all the salmon in the American River, Mr. S. and I decided to cook up some salmon for dinner Wednesday night. Can you say yum?! (Salmon is also rich in Omega-3 fatty acids which is good for your cardiovascular health.)  I stopped by and picked up a nice big piece of fresh salmon at Sunh Fish and cooked it up in a no-frills manner: olive oil, a few pinches of herbes de Provence, lemon slices and a boatload of garlic (we love garlic!). We then tented it up in foil and chucked it in the oven. In less than a half hour, we had some wonderfully moist and flavorful salmon dressing up our plates. Keeping with the healthy theme, we also made some roasted delicata squash and a mushroom and asparagus quinoa pilaf...but more on that later this week. ;)

Oven-Baked Fresh Salmon

Ingredients

1.5 lbs fresh (wild) salmon - you can cut these into smaller individual fillets or roast it as one giant fillet

Extra virgin olive oil

Herbes de Provence

Kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper

4-6 garlic cloves, minced

3 small lemons (2 sliced, 1 in wedges)

Aluminum foil


Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Place a large piece of aluminum foil on a baking sheet. Drizzle a little olive oil on it and spread it out.

3. Place salmon on the middle of the foil sheet, skin side down. Lightly coat the fish with olive oil.  Season with a few pinches of herbes de Provence, several minced cloves of garlic, some Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper. Squeeze some fresh lemon across the top.

4. Place slices of lemon across the top.

5. Fold the sides of the foil upward and over, creating a small tent-like packet. Make sure everything is covered and all the sides are sealed tightly.

6. Bake for 20-25 minutes (or more if you have really thick fillets), until salmon is fully cooked.
Tip: cook the fish 10 minutes for each inch of thickness.

7. Use a spatula to transfer fillets to plates. Serve with lemon wedges.