MODEST MEALS: Baked Salmon!

Ciao friends! How's it going?

Today I'd like to share another one of our favorite meals with you! Kevin was never a big fan of salmon, or fish in general, because he didn't like it to smell up the house. We made tilapia one weekend in our old apartment and it smelled for a week.

He knew I loved salmon, so he found way to cook it so that it doesn't stink up the house with a fishy smell! Baked! If you'd like to make this very modest meal along with us, let's get started!

For ingredients, you'll need

- Aluminum Foil

- An Onion, medium sized or bigger

- 2 whole bulbs of Garlic (we love garlic)

- Broccoli or Brussel sprouts (or your favorite veggie)

- Salmon filets or salmon steaks (cut the scales off!)

- Mashed potatoes (we like potato flakes)

- Olive Oil

- Your favorite cold rosé wine or white wine (if preferred)

(Put your wine glasses in the freezer if you like cold wine)

- Your favorite spices (a must!)

FOOD PREP:

First, dice up your garlic bulbs in a food processor or diced finely with a knife

Put it in a little separate bowl

You're going to use half of it for the salmon and half of it for the garlic mashed potatoes!

Next, clean and wash your broccoli. Cut it however you want, but we generally just hack off the florets and rinse, then put them in a pot with some water in the bottom to steam it

Make sure you have a veggie steamer, of course :) Add enough water to reach a little below the bottom of the steamer

Next, lay out some aluminum foil and slice your onion. This onion part is optional. If you don't like onions, you don't have to do this but Kevin always puts these onion rings down to rest the fish on while they bake so the butter and juices can get underneath the fish

Mix half of your diced garlic with olive oil and brush on your salmon generously

This is where you can also add your favorite spices along with the olive oil and/or garlic

You can get personal with this part. Flavor is important. I favor a more plain salmon. Butter, garlic, or olive oil will do.

Kevin, however, can be a little silly sometimes lol

He likes his salmon spicy. He adds crushed fresh pepper to his.

We also like Seminole Swamp Seasoning, as I've mentioned before. You can find that here if you'd like to try it out:

seminoleswampseasoning.com/shop

Once your salmon is ready, you're going to wrap it up in aluminum foil packets, so draw up the sides of the foil, fold them downward gently and make sure not to press down on the fish.

Create a little pocket of cooking space within the foil.

They should look like this when ready.

Set the oven for 425 degrees and put them in for 25 minutes.

This part is pretty specific. It works well for the time and cooks the fish nicely.

While the salmon is cooking, at about 10 or so minutes remaining, start the mashed potatoes. Since we use instant, this is what we do. Depending on your serving size, put olive oil into the water and bring it to a boil. Add the diced garlic. Mix in the potato flakes, milk, and garlic all together, bringing it smoother depending on how you like it with the milk. Turn the heat to low and cover if there is still time remaining on the fish so the potatoes don't dry out.

Bring the water in the broccoli or Brussel sprouts (or veggies). Steam them in a covered pot for at least 5 minutes or so. Don't over do it too much. A nice, vibrant green color is an indicator when they're ready.

When the salmon is done, take out the packets and cut them open. Be careful, they are HOT. Open them and this is what you should see.

Nicely baked, buttery salmon! Cooked so that it practically comes apart

Remove it from the foil packet gently with a spatula like this one to keep the super flaky integrity of the salmon intact or it will definitely fall apart on you on its way to the plate!

Pour your chilled wine into the glasses from the freezer!

Mmmmm nice and cold. We've found that we love a cold, cold rosé wine with this meal, even more so than a Pinot Grigio

So there you have it, my friends! A modest meal of salmon, veggies, and garlic mashed potatoes! It may look like a lot at first, but once you get the hang of preparing this meal, it's a snap, really. The only thing that takes practice is how you want your salmon. The veggies and mashed potatoes are easy. The meal also works well with rice, too, if you don't want mashed potatoes.

Either way, mix it up and see what works best for you! That's how we've come up with some of our best and most favorite meals. Thank you for reading! We enjoy sharing this with you and we'll definitely see you again in another post for a Modest Meal!

Ciao for now!