Tuesday, March 5, 2013

recipe: lemon and dill salmon in parchment paper

i have always been a little intimidated when it comes to cooking fish. i feel like i have to confess that until a few years ago i never ate any fish except shell fish. growing up, my brother tim didn't like red meat or pork and i didn't like fish so my mom basically cooked two dinners every night unless she was making shrimp or chicken (and she hated making chicken...go figure). she was a complete saint for doing it, but i wish i had bitten the bullet and stopped being so picky earlier on because fish is delicious. i think one of the leftover hangups i have about cooking it is that i'm just not super comfortable with fish because it hasn't been part of my kitchen forte for very long. well, when i discovered the parchment paper method recently, i've become a total sea creature convert. cooking this salmon was so easy and it turned out incredibly flavorful and delicious.


lemon and dill salmon in parchment paper
serves 4

4 6-oz salmon fillets
2 lemons, sliced thinly
2 T fresh dill, chopped
sea salt & fresh cracked pepper, to taste

pre-heat your oven to 400*. while the oven preheats, prep the salmon by slicing about halfway through the fillet up the middle to create a slit. fill each slit with 1/2 T of freshly chopped dill. salt and pepper the salmon liberally (or to taste - my taste is just pretty liberal). place the salmon in the middle of a 12 in x 12 in piece of parchment paper top the salmon with three slices of lemon. fold the parchment paper together at the top and roll down so that it forms a seal along the top. then, fold the excess parchment paper on either end of the fillet underneath so that the parchment paper is closed all around. 


once the oven is pre-heated, place the salmon fillets onto the baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. i served mine with brown rice and asparagus which i steamed and then topped with lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper. altogether it was a great meal. 

i can't wait to start baking other fish in parchment paper! i'm not sure about cooking time for different fish but when i made this i just googled "how long should you bake salmon" before i started making it and it worked out just fine, so i imagine i can google all sorts of fishy directions.

<3
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9 comments:

  1. Haha my mom has to make a separate dinner for me pretty much every night when I'm home... she's given up fighting. Maybe eventually I'll grow up and eat like a normal person.

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  2. You had a nice mom! My mum refused to do that! So I had to suck it up or go hungry haha...I refused to go hungry so clearly that didn't last long, but I wasn't happy about half the food I had to eat! Just kidding, she was a good cook, but yeah she seriously would only make one thing for dinner..if we liked it great, if we didn't, too bad. And this looks like a fish recipe I could actually get behind AND manage to make for myself and Joseph...perhaps I shall at some point...when he gets tired of cooking...going to ride that train as longggggggggg as I can!

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  3. so I love fish. i really do. but I hate salmon. I mean I will eat it but not my favorite. I actually adore cooking cod in parchment like that. drool. however, my broke status makes me barely ever buy fish these days. sad

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  5. Wow, that looks so simple, I bet even I could do it! I always screw up salmon, but I like your way. Parchment paper is so good for locking in the juices :)

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  6. I am thinking that I might be able to try this with tempeh or tofu...hmm, my mind is pondering this right now and it sounds TASTY!

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  7. I'm totally impressed with you! I love fish and cook it occasionally but not enough... It's so easy and cooks so quickly, I need to start cooking it more! My biggest mistake is buying frozen more than fresh and forgetting to take out out to defrost - but I did recently learn that you can cook it from frozen!

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  8. You don't want to know how I cook fish. I'm pretty sure that all my food would taste MUCH better (slash. I'd probably cook more intricate and yummy things) if I actually knew how to cook. For now, I'm okay with my head buried in the sand eating my tasty-to-me meals.

    That being said, way to step out of your comfort zone in so many ways. And fish are not friends, they are food. Amazing food. Sorry, Nemo.

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  9. i totally need to be more brave and cook salmon! I have salmon burgers which i really like and I make tilapia a lot with dill on it. this sounds and looks delish!

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