BosGuy makes baked salmon with dijon dill sauce

Baked Salmon with a cucumber & tomato salad, served with mustard dill sauce and rice

It has been too long since I last shared a recipe so in lieu of sharing another restaurant review I wanted to share a slightly modified recipe I picked up from epicurious.com, that was really excellent.

Sergio does not care for salmon and earlier this month he was away so I used the opportunity to make baked salmon with a mustard dill sauce. I served it alongside a cucumber and tomato salad and brown rice. The recipe has two steps; first making the mustard dill sauce followed by baking the salmon. Despite the two step approach, this healthy dinner was easy to make.  The recipe shared below will serve 3-4 people.

Step 1: Making the mustard dill sauce:

To make the sauce you will need approximately one half of a small to medium sized vidalia onion, 8 ounces of sour cream, 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard and 2 tablespoons of fresh dill finely chopped.

The first step is to mince approximately half of a medium sized vidalia onion and add it into a mixing bowl with the remaining ingredients: 8 ounces of sour cream, 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh dill along with salt and ground pepper to taste. Whisk the entire mixture and let it sit on the counter for 45 minutes – 1 hour. The point is to let the ingredients combine and ensure it is applied to the salmon at room temperature.

Full disclosure: I added slightly more mustard and dill, but if you taste as you mix the sauce you can ensure it is precisely to your liking.

Step 2: Baking the salmon:

First preheat your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and once the oven is ready place your salmon (1 lb – 1.25 lbs filet) skin side down on a lightly oiled baking sheet. Add salt and pepper and one minced garlic clove (the garlic is optional but I can’t imagine cooking without using garlic) to the top of the salmon filet.

Take approximately 1/3 of a cup of the sauce and liberally cover the entire filet. I also covered the sides of the salmon. Place the salmon in the oven for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, check to see if the filet is cooked to your liking. I turned off my oven, slightly opened its door and let the salmon sit for another two minutes before I took it out to plate it.

While I was making the sauce, I also was cooking brown rice, but since there are different cooking times depending on the rice you use, follow those directions to ensure you have a well cooked grain to accompany the salmon.

While the salmon was in the oven, I peeled and sliced a cucumber and chopped a tomato. I used the extra mustard dill sauce to add to both the salad and the the salmon after I plated it. I will definitely make this again when Sergio is out of town. Although he may not care for salmon, this is one of the best meals I have cooked in a long time. The fact that it is was so easy to make, clean up and fairly healthy is an added bonus.

Ingredients
1 – 1.25 lbs salmon
8 ounces of sour cream
2 tablespoons of mustard (I used dijon)
2 tablespoons of fresh dill
1/2 medium sized vidalia onion
1 garlic clove
1 tomato
1/2 of a cucumber
salt and pepper for seasoning