Quick. Easy. Delicious. Nutritious. These are four words that I say and remind myself of on a regular basis when I am creating recipes to share. Of course, there are times when I like to play and spend more time in the kitchen, and, there are also the times that I like to do a bit of prep and then let something cook long and slow. But, most of the time it’s quick, easy, delicious and nutritious.
This salmon is called “baked” because it will have a slightly browned and more dry exterior when cooked. We are going to use our Combination Steam function here which will give us that baked finish, whilst of course still keeping things nice and moist on the inside and also, helping to cook things through a little more quickly than a traditional oven. If we were to just use our Steam only function here, we would end up with a completely soft and moist result, which actually would also work but, for me, may not have as much flavour and texture - particularly on the veggies. I like my spuds and things like capsicum and zucchini to have more of a toasty, toasty flavour to them.
Fish can be a funny one for home cooks I find. In my experience in teaching people to cook it’s often a really daunting thing for people to cook fish in their home kitchen. Many of my students have told me in the past that they are nervous about under-cooking it, which is funny because usually, I find the opposite happens. It’s like reverse psychology - the more you worry about under-cooking it, the more likely you are to overcompensate and actually overcook it. The good news for fearful fish cooks is that with the benefit of steam you are even less likely to ever have to worry about under-cooking fish and if you do overcook it, it will still stay moist. It’s a win-win and another reason to love a CombiSteam!
With the fish, we are also going to “bake” some veggies so that everything can be done in one oven at the same time. It makes it an incredibly easy dish to cook because the only things to worry about are the stages or timings at which you add the next ingredient. We are going to start with the spuds because they are the densest and hard veggie and will therefore take the longest to cook. The rules of cooking still apply when you use a CombiSteam oven - just as they would if you were cooking veggies in a pot of water or a regular oven. Start with the item that takes the longest and add the rest from there. Test things, touch things, smell things and open the door and look at things as they go. Keep control of what is going on. If something doesn’t feel or look or smell ready, it probably isn’t. Trust your gut! There is really no such thing as an exact cooking time, even with a recipe. It may be that the particular potatoes you chose are harder than normal and will take a bit longer or you happen to like things a little browner or softer or more well done. Tweak and twist to suit yourself. I am really just here to provide a starting point, some inspiration and hopefully confidence. Now get to it!
combi-steam-queen-bakedsalmonwithvegetables.jpeg
Serves 4 (but more fish and veggies can be added without affecting the cooking time as a whole)
Ingredients:
4 salmon fillets (around 150g each, skinless)
1 head broccoli (cut into small florets)
8 chat potatoes (halved)
1 small capsicum (deseeded) - sliced into 2cm wide strips
1 small zucchini (cut into thirds lengthways then into wedges)
12 cherry or mini Roma tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tsp honey
olive oil
salt and pepper
Method:
Line a baking tray with baking paper. Add the potatoes. Drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Quick. Easy. Delicious. Nutritious. These are four words that I say and remind myself of on a regular basis when I am creating recipes to share. Of course, there are times when I like to play and spend more time in the kitchen, and, there are also the times that I like to do a bit of prep and then let something cook long and slow. But, most of the time it’s quick, easy, delicious and nutritious.
0 Comments