This roasted salmon with avocado dill sauce is a monthly staple at our house. Roasting fish alongside other veggies on a sheet pan requires minimal effort and thanks to parchment paper, is super easy to clean up!
Busy Days
Hello, my friends! I hope you are enjoying springtime. We are off to a running start here with sports and activities every. day. of. the. week. Fortunately, my almost-daily-morning meditation habit helps keep me calm from the start and reminds me to take one (mindful) step at a time. (Well, at least most of the time it helps!)
A Quick Weeknight Dinner
In any case, one daily to-do that doesn’t change is the need to feed my family dinner! When I take the time to plan weekly meals, this is a lot smoother, but at least 1 week a month I wing it, and this is when I turn to simple go-to’s such as this salmon recipe and my sheet pan cod recipe.
I’m lucky that I have a local fish market where I can pop in just before it’s time to cook dinner for fresh fish. But a quick trip to your local grocery store would also work.
After picking up some fish I look in the fridge or freezer to see what veggies we have on hand, then throw what I can onto a sheet pan and bake it in the oven. Meanwhile, I make an avocado-dill sauce for my husband and me to enjoy (my children don’t know what they are missing!)
As for starchy sides, if it’s a really time-pressed or tired night I might heat up some frozen brown rice (yes, that’s a thing). If I have a few more minutes I will boil baby potatoes or cook quinoa.
Seeking out Omega-3’s
We are big seafood fans in this house. It’s such a great way to get DHA and EPA, important omega-3 fatty acids that are only found in seafood and algae. For optimal intake, aim for 2-3 servings of seafood a week.
Salmon, herring, sardines, mussels, arctic char, trout, and anchovies are all great sources of omega-3’s that are also low in mercury. Albacore tuna is also high in omega-3’s but kids and women of childbearing age should limit or avoid this fish because it’s high in mercury. Other types of seafood, such as cod and shrimp, also provide omega-3’s–just not as much.
Ok, now let’s get cooking. As always, please use this recipe as a guide and adjust it to your need and liking. Perhaps yours needs to cook a bit longer? Perhaps you would like to serve it with a different veggie? Enjoy!
Roasted Salmon with Avocado Dill Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 teapoons olive or avocado oil (plus extra for veggies)
- 1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets
- 1/2 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt (plus extra for sauce and veggies)
- 1/2 cup plain Greek or Skyr yogurt
- 1 whole avocado, ripe
- 1/2 whole lemon, juiced
- 3 tablespoons dill, chopped (or try parsley!)
- 1 garlic clove, minced (or try 1 tablespoon of chopped chives)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- While the oven is preheating, make the sauce by combining the yogurt, avocado, lemon, garlic, and dill in a mini food processor or blender. Add water, 1 tablespoon at a time if too thick. Season to taste with salt and pepper and additional lemon or garlic.
- Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and grease with 2 teaspoons of oil.
- Season both sides of the salmon with salt and place on the parchment paper. Note: you can leave the salmon as a whole fillet or cut into portion-sized pieces--it will cook a little faster if cut, but in my opinion, it's easier to just leave it whole.
- If desired, add additional veggies to the sheet pan. If they will need the same amount of time to cook, include them for the whole cooking time--as I did with the sliced fennel and zucchini in the photos. If they need less time, add them later in the cooking process--as I did with the frozen baby peas in the photos. (See recipe notes for more tips.)
- Bake fish for 20-25 minutes, depending on size and thickness. Drizzle the sauce on top and serve or let everyone take their own sauce (recommended for family-style dinners). Enjoy!
Notes
References:
https://www.ewg.org/research/us-gives-seafood-eaters-flawed-advice-on-mercury-contamination-healthy-omega-3s
