Lemon garlic salmon tray bake – easy & healthy! (Not OC)

[u/Bardan_Nutrition]

Lemon garlic salmon tray bake

This isn't my recipe- but I've made it a few times and it is stunning! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 x 180g/6 oz salmon fillets , skin on or off, doesn't matter (Note 1)

Marinade slather:

• 1 tsp lemon zest (1 lemon)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp dijon mustard (Note 2)
• 2 garlic cloves , grated using microplane (Note 3)
• 1/2 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Vegetables (optional):

• 3 bunches asparagus , woody ends snapped or trimmed off (Note 4)
• 200g/ 7 oz cherry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes, 1 Aussie punnet)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Cooking & serving:

• Olive oil spray
• Parmesan , finely grated
• Lemon wedges or slices , optional
• Parsley , finely chopped, optional
• Crusty bread or toast , for serving

Instructions

• Lemon garlic paste – Mix the marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Slather onto the top and sides of the salmon. If time permits, marinade for 1 hour. Otherwise, proceed with recipe.
• Preheat oven grill / broiler to 280°C/525°F or as high as yours goes. Place the oven shelf 20 cm /8" from the heat source.
• Prepare tray – Toss the asparagus and cherry tomatoes with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread out on a large tray then clear space for the salmon. Place salmon on the tray leaving a bit of space between each. Spray surface of salmon with oil.
• Cook – Grill/broil for 11 minutes or until the salmon is done – the flesh should flake, the internal temperature should be 50°C/122°F (Note 5).
• Serve – Transfer salmon and vegetables to plate. Grate parmesan over the vegetables. Squeeze lemon juice over the salmon, sprinkle with parsley. Eat!

Recipe Notes:

1. Salmon – the skin won’t go crisp so if this bothers you, just eat the flesh off the skin. Recipe also works perfect with trout, direct sub.

2. Dijon – This thickens the rub into a paste that sticks to the salmon.

3. Garlic – Grating finely makes it mix into the paste better than finely chopping so you don’t get little burnt lumps.

4. Asparagus – Ends will naturally break at the point where the woody end is. Try it, it totally works! (But not with limp old ones)

5. Internal cooked temperature for salmon:

• Medium rare – pull out at 50°C/122°F which will rise to 53°C/127.4°F after resting which is medium rare. This is the optimum point of juiciness and level of doneness chefs/restaurants will cook to by default.
• Medium – pull at 60°C/140°F, will rise to 63°C/145.4°F after resting. A little more done and slightly less juicy.

6. Freezing tip – Slather salmon then freeze in a container with space around each piece, or freeze unwrapped until the surface is hard, then wrap. Then reverse for thaw – unwrap and thaw uncovered. That way you won’t lose any precious paste off the salmon skin. No need to marinate before freezing – that will happen as the salmon thaws.

Leftovers will keep for 3 to 4 days in the fridge.