Salmon

Originally served at Seattle’s Hotel Sorrento by chef David Pisegna (and published in The Best of Food & Wine collection from 1988), this throwback salmon dish stands the test of time. We simplified the original recipe, but didn’t change a thing about the velvety, wine-blushed beurre blanc; keep it warm and serve it immediately for the best results.

As the workday fades and I begin to build dinner in my mind, I’ve come to realize that my most creative and delicious weeknight dishes are born from what’s on hand waiting to be used. My dinner plan begins with one ingredient and expands from there as I consider what’s lingering in my cupboards and crisper. As a resident of the Pacific Northwest, it’s my self-imposed duty to eat the local wild salmon on a regular basis. Over many years of cooking the jewel-toned fish, my go-to method has become a low-heat roasting technique, which yields a delicate, buttery texture throughout. You’ll want to be sure to adjust the cooking time according to the thickness of your fillet. While a sizable Chinook, or king, salmon can be quite thick, sockeye salmon are relatively smaller fish with thinner fillets. I prefer them for their stunning carmine color and moderate fat content. This rich fish deserves a bright foil, and the blood oranges and mandarins that fill my fruit bowl right now are the perfect pick. Shingled slices underneath the salmon impart flavor during roasting; carefully cut supremes come together with the remains of a bunch of parsley to create a tart and bright salad for topping the finished dish. I like to lean on one or two robust pantry staples to build flavor; in this case, a bottle of pomegranate molasses and a nearly-forgotten tub of Castelvetrano olives. Tart and just barely sweet, the pomegranate molasses cuts through the richness of the fish while creating a gorgeous, shimmering glaze; the olives balance the bright flavors of the salad with their soft salinity and luxe butteriness. One good pairing for wild salmon is Oregon Pinot Noir, but here, a dry or slightly off-dry Oregon Riesling is perfect. Replete with zingy acidity, it perfectly counterbalances the richness of the fatty, flavorsome fish and stands up to the bright salad and tart, fruity glaze.

I like to keep things simple for dinner prep because I don’t always feel like making a large, intricate meal—especially during the week. Depending on the day, I may be developing recipes, interviewing someone for a profile, going to the market to buy ingredients to test recipes, or writing a few thousand words for a cookbook chapter. By dinner time, simplicity is my mission. If I’ve been running around all day, I come home and change clothes, pour myself a glass of wine, put on music I want to cook to, and begin to prepare my supper. This recipe combines three simple things that I enjoy and turn to again and again when I’m cooking solo: seafood, an assortment of vegetables, and a mini sheet pan. Fish is a great main ingredient for a solo dinner—it’s inexpensive to buy in single portions, and it cooks quickly. I’ve trained myself to love vegetables and now I genuinely enjoy them—on an aesthetic level I like the color they add to a meal and the different textures they provide. In this recipe I pair salmon with three vegetables: brussels sprouts (because it’s wintertime and they’re everywhere), red bell pepper (for color), and red onions (for flavor and a little crunch). Using hoisin as a base, I made a quick and simple spicy sauce by adding minced ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper, lime juice, and olive oil. I get excited making this dinner because it’s easy, full of flavor, and a good balance of sweet, sour, and spicy—depending on how much cayenne pepper you add. Start with a small pinch to start, then add more if you prefer a spicy kick. That’s the great part about cooking for yourself—you can crank up the heat as much as you want! But the true beauty of the recipe is that it all cooks on one sheet pan and just takes about 20 minutes. So when dinner’s done, there’s just one pan to wash. Then you can get back to unwinding with your favorite tunes and that well-deserved glass of wine.

Double-pronged skewers give delicate, flaky proteins like salmon a bit more stability so they can be turned repeatedly without spinning around or falling apart. A soy sauce, mirin, and brown sugar glaze caramelizes on the fish and baby bok choy as it grills, and also serves as a dipping sauce. Slideshow: More Salmon Recipes

Food & Wine’s Kelsey Youngman loves making these Spicy Chipotle Salmon Cakes for an easy weeknight dinner. Using pantry staples and some fresh lemon, the cakes come together quickly and get some bold spice from the chipotle in adobo. Feel free to use any citrus you have on hand; lime would work particularly well. Slideshow: More Salmon Recipes

This is a great tartare for people who aren’t sure if they like raw fish, since it combines both fresh and hot-smoked salmon, which, along with cucumber, cornichon and crème fraîche, give it an appealing range of textures. Slideshow: More Salmon Recipes