Happy Lunar New Year! I wanted to tell you about the dinner I made tonight for it, but I want to have the leftovers before I finish my blog post about it. Instead I'll tell you about last night's dinner, which was also very delicious and satisfying.
As an adult, I've discovered that I like several vegetables that I hated as a kid. Most of this comes down to textural issues. As a child, I learned to tolerate broccoli, but now I enjoy it, as long as it's still relatively crisp after it's cooked. Brussels sprouts are another of those vegetables that earned a bad reputation to my young self. Little did I know, until a few years ago, that they are delicious when they retain their structure and texture, and when flavored boldly with soy sauce or garlic. Roasting the vegetable brings out a hint of sweetness and mellows out their bitter tendencies.
I was definitely interested when I came across the recipe for Garlic Roasted Salmon and Brussels Sprouts. It had a satisfyingly short ingredient list (garlic, olive oil, white wine, oregano) and would be fast to make. It was the perfect thing to make with the pound of salmon that I'd bought but had no clue what I wanted to do with. The original recipe made 6 servings, but I decided that it would be best if I halved it.
This was tasty. Honestly, I love roasted garlic, and I find it difficult to go wrong if a recipe includes it. The salmon was perfectly done after the minimum time of 5 minutes, which is perhaps the most perfectly I've ever cooked salmon. The Brussels sprouts had mellowed from roasting, and tasted deliciously of salt and garlic. This recipe didn't yield a lot of sauce, but I drizzled what there was over the salmon and rice on my plate, and it minimally flavored the rice with a hint of garlic and oregano. And, like I said, there were slivers of roasted garlic that were a pleasure to eat.
This was a very simple recipe to make, and it took very little time. I made the half recipe, but I can tell it would be a great recipe to make if you have company over, due to the simple ingredients, simple cooking method, and mostly hands-off cooking time when your guests would be arriving. This will become one of my go-to recipes for salmon.
📖 Recipe
- 7 cloves garlic (1 minced, 6 whole, which you then sliver)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano (original called for more, fresh oregano, but dried worked fine)
- ½ teaspoon salt (divided)
- ⅜ teaspoon pepper (divided)
- 3 cups Brussels sprouts (trimmed and sliced) (I bought mine by weight, but bought too many. This should be no more than a pound)
- ⅜ cup white wine (¼ cup + 2 tbsp) (I used leftover Pinot Grigio)
- 1 pound salmon (original says in 3rds, but I had 4 pieces)
-
Combine 1 minced clove garlic, olive oil, oregano, ¼ teaspoon salt, and ⅛ teaspoon pepper. Combine sliced Brussels sprouts and 6 cloves slivered garlic. Toss with 1 ½ tablespoons flavored oil. Roast at 450F for 15 minutes, stirring once. Add wine to remaining oil. Place salmon pieces on top of Brussels sprouts, and drizzle wine mixture over salmon. Sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper. Roast for 5-10 minutes more, until salmon is done. I served this with unseasoned long-grain rice.
Nina H-C says
I usually do brussels sprouts tossed in olive oil pepper and sea salt, then broiled for about 10-15 minutes. But I had the best brussels sprouts salad the other day at a place in Brooklyn called Pies 'n Thighs (as in chicken, pork and beef). They had julienned the sprouts and just barely wilted them with heat (so they were still springy/crunchy), then tossed them with a tiny bit of olive oil, crushed almonds, cilantro, salt, lemon (or maybe vinegar) and a tiny bit of crunchy crumbled bacon. it was mainly sprouts, with the rest of the items thrown in for flavoring, so it felt both satisfying and refreshing.
Leona says
That salad sounds really good! I still have half of my brussels sprouts left, so I may have to try to make something like that.