Roasted Salmon Steaks on a Bed of Potatoes, Fennel and Leeks

Posted on | January 9, 2008 | 40 Comments |

One of our New Year resolutions is to start eating a little healthier. We have been pigging out the entire holiday season; too many dinner parties, restaurant visits, vacations etc caused both of us to gain a few extra inches around the waist. No regrets, because we sure had a lot of fun doing all those, and that is what the holiday season is all about, isn’t it?

Anyway, now that life is back on track, we’ve decided to be a little more careful about what we eat, and try to get back into those old jeans. Some of the decisions we have made are to reduce the frequency of eating out, incorporate a lot of greens into our diet, avoid deep fried stuff and cut the rice intake way down. As part of this plan, we have been eating a lot of quick fix meals on weekdays, with baked/roasted fish or chicken with a fresh greens salad or sauteed vegetables on the side. I have been experimenting with a lot of different marinades and sides to keep these meals interesting. It is surprisingly easy to eat healthy, and you don’t have to compromise on taste either. I am starting a new series here called Quick-fix healthy meal ideas. Most of these meals are going to be some variety of seafood or chicken. I will share my successful experiments here.

The first meal in the series is this flavorful salmon roast which just took less than 1/2 tsp oil to cook. The salmon was steam-roasted on a bed of potatoes, fresh fennel and leeks, so that the fish absorbed all the flavors from the veggies and vice versa.

Salmon

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

2 salmon steaks (~6oz each)
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp black peppercorns
1 tbsp paprika
Salt to taste
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 medium sized potato
1 fennel bulb
1 large leek
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1/2 tsp olive oil

Method

Crush the garlic and black peppercorns in a mortar or a spice grinder till smooth. Add the paprika and salt and the lemon juice to make a paste. Apply this on the salmon steaks, marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Pre-heat the oven to 425F.

Cut the potato into thin slices. Core and thinly slice the fennel bulb. Cut the white part of the leek into thin long strips. Arrange the leek, fennel and potato slices as shown in the picture in an oven safe non-stick pan with a tight oven-safe lid, season with salt and pepper.

Veggie bed

Arrange the salmon steaks on top of the vegetable bed. Cover the pan with a tight fitting lid.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Remove from the oven. The salmon gets cooked in the steam and absorbs all the flavors from the vegetables. There will still be some liquid remaining in the pan from the vegetables and the fish.

Place a lightly greased non-stick griddle or a frying pan on the stove. Once the pan is really hot, place the salmon steaks, cook for two minutes per side, flipping once. This will nicely finish-up the salmon, and give it a crispy texture outside, but will keep it moist inside.

In the mean time, place the pan with the vegetables on the stove, and cook till the liquid is completely absorbed by the veggies.

Serve the salmon along with the veggies and lime wedges. We had a simple mixed greens salad on the side, to complete the meal.

You can experiment with different veggies for the bed. Use onions if you don’t have leeks in stock, but leeks are definitely more flavorful.

Category: Quick-fix healthy meals, Seafood

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Comments

40 Responses to “Roasted Salmon Steaks on a Bed of Potatoes, Fennel and Leeks”

Raaga
January 9th, 2008 @ 10:46 pm
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Kaykat
January 9th, 2008 @ 11:20 pm
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*drool*!

Sig, this totally rocks! I was just reading some sauce recipes for salmon steaks, think I’ll try this instead
Nags
January 10th, 2008 @ 12:48 am
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ahh this is awesome and definitely in line with your new year resolution!
sunita
January 10th, 2008 @ 2:36 am
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Lovely :drool: …I too made something like this..well, ermmm, quite and not so quite
sra
January 10th, 2008 @ 4:21 am
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Looks good, Sig. I’ve found salmon to vary wildly in taste from place to place – have you experienced that?
indosungod
January 10th, 2008 @ 4:36 am
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that salmon looks so very delicious, and a great diet dish
Padmaja
January 10th, 2008 @ 4:50 am
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Sig!!! Salmon looks so colourful on that bed of veggies!!!
Looks perfectly healthy. Even we owed at home to start eating healthy and loose weight in this new year.
shilpa
January 10th, 2008 @ 5:24 am
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A very happy birthday to Siv . Hope you had a great party Beer):.

That salmon looks very good. I am gonnu try this over the weekend.
shriya
January 10th, 2008 @ 6:12 am
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Wow! Your presentation is really nice. The salmon looks so delicious.I can’t take my eyes out of it.
Asha
January 10th, 2008 @ 6:29 am
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Oh Sig! I love that Salmon dish, so good. YUM!!
You know you are inspiring me to cook Fish now. I cleaned a cast Iron pan yesterday to cook something with Cod. Will see if I succeed!:grin:
Happy Cook
January 10th, 2008 @ 6:46 am
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SIg join the club. My wais line too have expanded after the party days.
So here too live is back to eating normal food as possible.
I love the salmon dish.
Rajitha
January 10th, 2008 @ 7:09 am
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that pic looks good….and talking about waistlines..i can publish a book about my woes
Padma
January 10th, 2008 @ 7:25 am
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I am drooling all over you r dish has restaurant style look to it, Great Job! I love Salmon and this recipe will work best for me, though never tried with fennel
Ramya
January 10th, 2008 @ 7:38 am
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mmm…. *sigh* I dont eat salmon, but I love your pic!! I wonder how u manage to get such perfect ones everytime
Mishmash!
January 10th, 2008 @ 7:43 am
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Sig, that roasted slice looks SO good….!!!
Yeah, we are also on the same route….no more deep frying and baking for sometime….:)
richa
January 10th, 2008 @ 8:30 am
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hey, ur presentation would beat the restaurant style anytime
only chicken & seafood in the new series
Shankari
January 10th, 2008 @ 9:04 am
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I have never tried salmon..I will make this with chiken..
Latha
January 10th, 2008 @ 9:05 am
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Sig, that looks good. I’m a vegetarian but i make salmon regularly for my family. I’ve never thought of salmon on a bed of veggies, that sure sounds great! will give this a shot next time.
And good luck to u guys on gettign those extra pounds off.. Yes):
Cheers
Latha
Pravs
January 10th, 2008 @ 9:06 am
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salmon any time for me :drool: I miss having salmon now..used to cook a lot of it when in Seattle.Looks so yummy, sig!
Revathi
January 10th, 2008 @ 10:12 am
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The meal does not look diet-food at all. IT looks so scrumptous. way to goo. Looks like you are back in full swing in posting recipes to the blog. Kudos !!
Meeta
January 10th, 2008 @ 11:24 am
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This is my kind of food. I love fennel and salmon and you have it made down to a perfect T!!
Reena
January 10th, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
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Wow! Sigs :drool: :drool: :drool:

So is it going to be more Green posts from you
Rina
January 10th, 2008 @ 1:43 pm
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Simply drooling :drool: girl.. Can’t wait to try this. A complete meal in itself. Salmon, Potatoes and Onions are my all time favs.. Btw are you sending this for JFI – Onion, you used leaks here as one of the main ingredients, and may be to Sunitha for Think Spice – Garlic.

Once again, lovely dish and pic. Flower):
musy
January 10th, 2008 @ 5:58 pm
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These “quickfixes” turn out to be the most delightful meals, don’t they While things bake, you get to relax or do other things and enjoy the food, which tastes good for sure! I like the idea of using potatoes, leeks and fennel together. The result must have been heavenly! The pictures as usual are such an eye-candy

hugs,
musical
rachel
January 10th, 2008 @ 9:20 pm
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Wow..that is a chunky slice there..I definitely would want that on my plate right now! :drool:
sagari
January 11th, 2008 @ 12:04 pm
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Pic looks so beautiful and tempting sig nice recipe
Bharathy
January 11th, 2008 @ 6:32 pm
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That slice is pretty!!!Wonder if you ever would run out of your creativity with fish fillets!!
Miri
January 12th, 2008 @ 5:14 am
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Looks delicious and a very healthy way of cooking indeed – looking forward to more in this series!
Shantanu
January 12th, 2008 @ 7:24 am
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Oh, don’t do this to me! I love salmon but dont get anything close to the good stuff I eat when in the Bay or Sea-Tac area.
Jyothsna
January 13th, 2008 @ 11:12 am
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THis should work in the microwave tooo, isn’t it?
sig
January 13th, 2008 @ 11:44 am
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Thanks everyone, for your kind words!
-Sig
archana
January 13th, 2008 @ 11:33 pm
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Hi sig,

I tried this today!! it was so yummy. I didn’t have leeks but did have fennel and potatoes and spring onions. It was wonderful!

thank you, hubby was groaning with delight.

I am soo happy you liked it Archana, it looks wonderful!
Kevin
January 16th, 2008 @ 6:18 pm
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That salmon looks really good!

Thanks Kevin!
shilpa
January 20th, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
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Sig, I tried this today. Its tooooooo good. Lip smacking. Thanks dear for sharing.

Glad you liked it Shilpa!
Luis
December 24th, 2008 @ 10:24 am
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Dish looks fantastic. Will try it soon.
Elka
January 8th, 2009 @ 3:04 am
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Your pics are so appetizing!!!!
- sig
  January 11th, 2009 @ 3:45 pm
  Reply
  
  Thanks Elka!
swethaskitchen.com
April 28th, 2009 @ 6:00 am
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hi
i recently came accross your blog and like your blog. i have also started a foodblog recently.keep up your good work and i wish u a very success.

cheers
swetha

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