Quick and easy meals don’t have to be boring

I have been on a mission this year to make simple, tasty meals that are quick and easy to make. The aim was to create recipes that can be prepared and cooked quickly on a busy weeknight.

We all struggle to make healthy and tasty meals while keeping on top of everything else in life.

This recipe is healthy, delicious, quick and easy to make; you can cook on a single tray in the oven. The preparation takes no more than 20 minutes, that is all of the slicing, dicing and mixing.

Each meal is portioned to feed four adults.

A reminder of the past

For many years, I would make regular trips to Northland and had access to a lemon tree that produced more lemons than anyone could eat. For a while, I would bring home the abundance of lemons and make lemon curd. On one trip, there was an abundance of lemons at the end of the season, and I wanted to do something a bit different with them. I would share salmon as a treat with my former mother-in-law and thought combining the homegrown lemons with a slab of salmon was a match made in heaven. 

More goodies

When I first came up with this recipe, I could have taken the boring route and just sliced the lemons and baked them together, but I wanted to try something new. With herbs from the garden and a well-stocked pantry, I grabbed some parsley and garlic to mash with the lemons. Adding butter created a rich paste that spread easily over each salmon steak, giving it great flavour and a built-in dressing. While the memories of Northland lemons now are more bitter than sweet, I still love this recipe and the flavours it brings to the plate.

Lemon garlic herb crusted salmon recipe

Ingredients

• 4 Salmon fillets
• 1 tbsp. dill
• 1 tbsp. chives
• 1 tbsp. basil
• 1 garlic clove
• Zest of a lemon
• Salt and pepper
• 85g Butter

Instructions

Line a baking tray with some baking paper or a silicone liner; and place the salmon fillets on the tray.

Take the remaining ingredients and place them in a small saucepan or the microwave safe bowl.

Gently heat the ingredients in the saucepan over a low heat, stir everything together as the butter melts.

Or melt the butter in the microwave and add the herbs, lemon and garlic to the butter.

When the herb butter is melted, mix it all together.

Spread the herb butter quickly over the top of each fillet evenly.

Bake the salmon at 200 degrees C/ 400 degrees F for 10 to 20 minutes, this will depend on the size of the fillets.

Serve with a fresh salad or greens.

Equipment

• Zester 
• Bowl
• Fork
• Knife
• Chopping board
• Baking tray
• Baking paper or a silicone liner
• Spoon
• Measuring spoons

Try this with

If you want something to dish alongside this recipe why not try:

Coodles

Cauliflower rice

Crunch salad

Courgette fries

If you love salmon you can find more recipes like this here

Salmon

Nutritional disclaimer

Nutrition information is provided as an estimate based on the ingredients used and available in my area (New Zealand). The nutritional information is here to help you understand the recipe; I use MyFitnessPal to generate my estimates. For more accurate nutritional information, please use a nutritional calculator with the ingredients in your area.