My new favorite weeknight recipe: a simple baked bourbon salmon.
I have nothing against shortcuts, but there are certain ones that I do feel a little guilty about. Earlier this week I "made" us a frozen pizza for dinner after a particularly long day at work. I ran on so long about how bad I felt feeding us such crap (all-the-while stuffing delicious slices of Spinach Mushroom frozen pizza in my mouth) , that my husband finally told me to put a sock in it -- that there was nothing wrong with the occasional set-it-and-forget-it dinner from a box if it helps us all keep our sanity and still be fed at the end of the day.
The next morning on the news,the logo for the pizza we'd had the night before popped up on the screen with the one word no one ever wants to see next to a product they have just consumed: RECALL.
Well played, Universe. Well. Played.
With the damage done but not forgotten, I went to the store a few days later to pick up another favorite "lazy" meal: Bourbon Salmon. Our local grocery store has these marinated filets of salmon just waiting to be tossed in the oven on a foil-lined pan to make a delicious entrée while I catch up on the evening news. And by evening news, I mean "Real Housewives of Potomac". One more pan in the oven with some asparagus tossed in olive oil, salt, and pepper and some of my favorite brown rice medley means dinner is DONE with almost no hands-on time.
Then I saw that regular ol' salmon was on sale... and I thought of our previous experience with premade foods this week ... and I decided that there must be a better way to have delicious bourbon salmon with little effort. This recipe requires no marinade ( read: no forethought ), but still creates that delicious sauce coating the fish.
Bourbon Salmon
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- ¼ Cup Brown Sugar Packed
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- ½ Tablespoon Garlic Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Bourbon
- ½ Tablespoon Salt
- ½ Tablespoon Pepper
- 1 lb Salmon Filet
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a jelly roll pan ( or other baking sheet with a rim ) with foil.
- Mix all ingredients up to the salmon in a small bowl to form a paste.
- Place the salmon on the foil-lined pan, and spread the paste on top of the salmon.
- Bake for 8 minutes.
- Baste the salmon with the now-liquid paste that melted off during the cooking process.
- Return to the oven and bake for another 8 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily.
- Once the fish is cooked, remove it from the oven and baste again with the melted paste.
- Let rest for 5 minutes, then serve.
We love salmon too. It's somehow always on sale at the local Costco so we always end up buying a big chunk, cutting it into smaller pieces then freezing. We have a whole arsenal of salmon recipes and this is a GREAT addition.
(Recalls are scary...hope nothing serious!)
I'm a huge fan of the Costco salmon. I was actually considering if I could make this recipe en masse and then freeze before baking, to make it even easier!
Did someone say bourbon?! Your beautiful photos are making me hungry!
Haha Thank you! Is there anything bourbon can't do?
Make you a better driver. 😛
We love salmon so much and try to have it at least once a week. I love the addition of honey and garlic powder!
I'm totally addicted to salmon right now -- I want salmon on all the things! The honey and the garlic powder really kick it up and give the flavors a little depth. A friend of mine's mother is a beekeeper, so I've been using honey in all sorts of things now that I have a supplier!
I'm drooling over this salmon. I may have to pick some up today! Fish is so easy and quick to make. I seem to always make fish when I'm crunched for time.
Thank you! I'm just discovering how easy weeknight fish can be. I can't believe I didn't find out sooner!
Just the words Bourbon Salmon sound delicious. Add your photo and I'm drooling! I do convenience meals too, we all need a break sometime and my hubby is good for about nothing in the kitchen. He has no interest and no clue. He'd rather eat my cooking. lol I'll give him that because I don't want to work on fixing cars either 🙂
Hahaha I'm with you! My husband will cook, but his specialties usually involve hotdogs or chili, so I try to head him off at the pass!