Baked Salmon

This week a local grocer was selling fresh salmon for $3.49 per pound.  When I saw this 4 pound piece, I knew that baked salmon was going to be on our dinner table.  When I told a couple of people about the sale, they asked "Are you going to grill it or fry it?"  When I replied, "no, I'm going to bake it", they asked how I prepared a baked salmon.  So, I am sharing with you now how I make a delicious, healthy, and moist baked salmon, that your family will enjoy.  This 4 pound piece will easily feed 8 people, so when you buy your fish, figure 1/2 pound per serving.

You will need:
salmon
olive oil
sea salt, (preferred, or table salt)
black pepper
garlic powder
onion, (1/2 of a medium or 1 small)
lemon
fresh dill (about 1 small handful)


Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

Remove the dill ferns from the stems, and discard the stems.  I leave my ferns intact, since I am just going to lay them across the top of the salmon for flavoring.

Slice the onion into thin slices.  You only need a small onion, or 1/2 of a medium sized onion.

Line a baking pan with foil and spray with baking spray, (this is simply to help with clean up, not entirely necessary - you can simply spray the pan without the foil).

Place the salmon, skin side down in the pan.  Very lightly drizzle the olive oil over the top of the salmon.

Sprinkle the salt over the salmon, (I like to use sea salt, but you can also use table salt).

Sprinkle black pepper over the salmon.

Squeeze the juice from 1/2 of a fresh lemon over the salmon

Sprinkle the garlic powder over the salmon, (fresh minced garlic is also a very good choice).

Lay the onion slices over the salmon.

Finally, lay the dill over the top of the onion slices.  Bake for 30 minutes, uncovered.

It's now been 30 minutes, and as you can see the salmon flakes easily, yet is still juicy.

Add a tossed salad, and some sautèed vegetables and you've got a delicious dinner that's also healthy, (if you want to add a nice dill sauce that's good, but the dill cooked on top of the salmon has already added flavor, so it's not really needed).

Give this a try, and your family will enjoy baked salmon as much, or better, than other fried fish.

And the best part about the leftovers is the versatility of this dish.  You can prepare a mixed green salad, add the salmon on top with a nice vinaigrette, or shred the salmon add some breadcrumbs and an egg to make a wonderful salmon patty, or simply slice the leftovers into sandwich sizes and serve on a toasted bun with lettuce, tomato, and some mayo, (all of these are so yummy).

Enjoy !