Salmon, Asparagus, and Leek in Parchment
Martha Stewart
Photo credit: Ryan Liebe
Servings: 4
Ingredients
1/2 bunch asparagus (about 8 ounces), trimmed and thinly sliced on the bias
I am not this fancy. They are cut up. I usually add more asparagus because it’s delicious
1 small leek, white and pale green parts only, thinly sliced, washed well, and drained
I cut it up, put in a strainer and then wash it.
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Course salt and ground pepper
4 skinless salmon fillets (each about 5 ounces and 1 inch thick), preferably wild
Yes, fresh salmon is delicious, but the frozen sockeye salmon from Costco with the skin on is just as good and it is SO EASY. That’s typically what I use
1/4 cup packed fresh herbs, such as tarragon, dill, basil, or parsley, or a combination for serving
It’s even better with fresh herbs and I forget to either buy these or prepare them most of the time. Is it still delicious without the herbs? Also yes.
Lemon wedges for serving
I am team “buy the lemon juice in the bottle” and “buy freeze dried lemon peel from Penzey’s” so I don’t do this often either
Steps to make it
Heat oven to 400 degrees with racks in upper and lower thirds. Cut four 12x17 inch pieces of parchment. Fold each in half crosswise to make a crease, then unfold and lay flat.
Toss asparagus and leek with oil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
I typically put it all together on the parchment then put olive oil over the top of it, salt and pepper and seal it.
Season fish with salt and pepper.
Arrange a fillet on one side of crease on each piece of parchment.
Top with asparagus mixture, dividing evenly.
Fold each piece of parchment over, then make small overlapping pleats to seal open sides, creating half-moon-shaped packets.
Bake on 2 rimmed baking sheets, 10 minutes for medium rare.
I typically do 15 minutes.
Transfer to plates and carefully cut packets open with kitchen shears (steam will be released).
My packets are never perfect so come apart easily and I don’t have to cut them. It’s good enough :)
Serve, topped with herbs and squeezed with lemon wedges.
This week is Sandy and Dave’s birthdays and I was totally going to write about waffles because the recipe is really similar to one that Dave’s mom made, but I already wrote about waffles and didn’t realize it until this morning so quickly pivoted, grabbed the official recipe picture from the Martha Stewart site even though I JUST made this recipe with Tesia on Friday and totally could have taken pictures then. I specifically made waffles for breakfast Saturday morning so I could take this great picture using portrait mode on my phone:
It’s pretty right? I was also going to talk about how much Anna loved this recipe and it’s also the 2 year anniversary of meeting Anna and Oriol in New York City seeing all the sites, getting stuck on the subway, and surviving the chaos that is Times Square.
So now that I’ve gotten those two things out of the way, let me tell you about how awesome Sandy and Dave are. They are Ann’s parents. I met them when we were all working on Ann’s kitchen renovation when she still lived in Minnesota. After I helped her organize her kitchen and Dave and Sandy went through their own kitchen renovation Sandy asked me to come help her put everything back together. It was the best time. I really love organizing.
Ann and her dad helped me install a bathroom fan in my bathroom, and when I needed a new furnace Dave had just bought one the year before, so shared the research he did and that was the furnace I ended up purchasing. He’s an electrical engineer and helped me wire up the bathroom to align with current code when I renovated that as well. When Ann moved to Atlanta, I was sad to see her go, but decided I was still going to hang out with her parents. Every time we get together I try and leave a dish with them so we have a good reminder to get together again.
When Anna came to stay with me, they took us out on their pontoon, showed us great hiking trails, took us ice fishing (we only caught seaweed) and checked out the kite festival. I always learn about 10 new things whenever I hang out with them and have the best time. I’m not totally sure if I’ve made this exact recipe for them, but Sandy is the one who told me about the frozen Costco salmon so it still counts. Last week Oscar and I went out with them on their pontoon to enjoy the day and do some fishing. I wanted to make sure Oscar didn’t dive off the boat, but next time I will get my fishing license so I can fish too.
This recipe is a really simple gluten free, dairy free, delicious recipe I have made for years. I made it with Saire when we were cooking in her kitchen, and with Tesia last week. I pull out the frozen salmon, put it in a bowl of room temperature water for about 5 minutes, and then assemble and throw it in the oven. I’ve also added small cut up potatoes and red pepper when I’m in the mood or asparagus isn’t in season. The parchment makes it pretty easy clean up and keeps it from drying out. I also love that I can put the parchment in the city compost in Minneapolis. Makes me feel better about using it in the first place.
I’ve loved sharing meals and experiences with Dave and Sandy over the years and hope we can share many more. Oscar even preferred Sandy after I dropped him in the lake and she rescued him.The picture is blurry and includes my finger but I have to share it anyway. Happy birthday you two! Thank you Ann for sharing your parents with me.
Great tips in the recipe!