Citrus Baked Salmon and Veggies

A few weeks ago, I saw a recipe on the Peak Of The Market site for a “Salmon Veggie Bake” that sounded interesting. Like most recipes I find, there were a few things that I felt needed to be tweaked to suit my tastes. The originally recipe used only carrots, mushrooms and green onion as veggies. A bit boring for my tastes. I wanted a bit more variety of veggies so I added red pepper, broccoli florets and celery to the mix.

I didn’t like the idea that you had to partially pre-cook the carrots before proceeding to assemble the recipe for the oven. An extra step, that I felt could be avoided if you cut the carrots a little smaller. I also wondered if using only orange would make the dish to sweet so I used an orange and a lemon.

Yeah, I know – I pretty much rewrote the recipe! But anyone who knows me, knows that is what I almost always do!

So here is my version (with pics!) of the “Salmon Veggie Bake” which I have renamed for my recipe box:

Citrus Baked Salmon and Veggies

1 orange
1 lemon
2/3 cups carrots, cut in match stick style
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 1/4 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup green onion (cut in 1/2 inch pieces)
1/3 cup sweet red bell pepper, cut in matchstick style
1/4 cup thinly sliced celery
1 teaspoon crushed garlic (bottled type)
1 teaspoon basil
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
2 boneless, skinless salmon fillets (about 4 oz. each)
2 teaspoons Olive oil
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Grate the peel of the orange and the lemon and place the peel in a medium bowl. Slice the orange and lemon into 8 slices each. Remove seeds. Set slices aside. Add the garlic, basil, thyme and parsley to the grated peel. Prepare the veggies and add to the peel mixture. Toss lightly to combine.

Divide the veggies evenly onto two large pieces of foil that have been lightly sprayed with Pam or other non-stick cooking spray. Lay one salmon fillet on top of each of the veggie mixes. Drizzle each fillet with 1 teaspoon of the olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Lay out half of the orange and half of the lemon slices on top of each of the salmon and veggie mixes. Lightly spray with a bit more of the Pam.

Pull the foil up over the mix and seal edges and top with a double fold. Place on foil lined baking sheet and bake in 350F oven for 30 minutes or until veggies are cooked and the salmon flakes easily.

BE CAREFUL when opening the package as it is VERY hot and the steam can easily burn you!! Serve with brown rice or a pasta such as lemon pepper linguini.

Serves 2.
Notes:
- The carrots and red pepper will cook in a similar time as the other veggies IF they are sliced in small sticks. Cut them any larger, and they will need to be partially precooked so that all veggies are done at the same time.
- I started to boil water for the pasta five minutes after I put the salmon and veggies in the oven. That way they were both done around the same time. You could also start a casserole dish of brown rice in the oven while you are preparing the packets.
- When serving, I squeezed the flesh and juice of the cooked fruit over the salmon and veggies as it added to the overall flavour. You could just lay the pieces on the side of the plate and let each person squeeze their own if they want it.
- For a more tangy flavour, you could use two lemons rather than the orange and lemon. You could also have a slightly sweeter flavour by using only two oranges. The choice is yours!

Enjoy!

dn