Salmon and rice - Magnificence!

 I think this was the best salmon and rice I've ever made. And it was super easy. This recipe is from Jamie Oliver's new cookbook Meals in Minutes. I happened to watch it on the BBC and was inspired to make it AND go buy the book. First - it was really fresh, local, wild salmon - that's probably a big reason why it was so amazing (so don't blame me if your fish is stinky!) When it's that fresh there is no unpleasant odor so baking it in the house was no problem. The fascinating thing about his new cookbook as he calls it "a revolutionary approach to cooking" is that the way he writes the recipe is for cooking the entire meal together in 30 min. So, it's a different read altogether. I can see how it might be good if you don't usually cook but since I just skim-read a recipe anyway it was a little tricky for me. I'll just give you the version with these two.

Baked Salmon and Rice Salad serves 4

1 or 2 peppers (I used one green italian sweet pepper and one red pepper)
couple green onions
1 fresh red chili
1 lb salmon filet, skin on
olive oil
lemon
1 cup basmati rice
3 roasted red peppers from a jar
1 small zucchini
few fresh basil leaves
balsamic vinegar

First start your rice cooking in a pan with 2 cups of water for about 15 min total. In a smallish roasting pan pour a couple glugs of olive oil and then chop the raw peppers, green onions and spicy chili and toss in the oil. Next take the salmon and rub it with a little oil and s&p and place in the middle of the pan skin side up and scoot the veggies around it. Grate some lemon zest on top. In a preheated oven of about 500 degrees on broil place the pan on the middle shelf, or a couple down from the broiler and cook for about 14 min. Watch it so it doesn't get black as I don't know your oven or how thick your fish filet is. I used my super duper toaster oven and it was perfect. I love the way he did the next bit - if you don't have a piece of cutting board big enough, just toss it in a bowl. On a large cutting board place the roasted peppers and chop well along with the raw zucchini and basil. Pour in a good amount of olive oil and a splash of balsamic and s&p. When the rice is done add it to the wood and mix it up. For the last five min of cooking the fish remove the skin and let crisp up a bit on the side and stir the peppers. Now he sprinkled the crispy skin on top of the fish when serving, and Rich like that - me, not so much. But if you want a shiny coat - try it! Serve fish, peppers and onions on top of the rice with a skwirt of lemon juice.

So far so good with my new cookbook!! My motto is you can never have too many.