Wild Salmon with Lemon Caper Mayonnaise (Serves 2)

The seafood case at Publix featured three salmon choices recently, and I chose the most expensive one… Wild caught salmon cost more and are worth it. Wild salmon eat better than their farm-raised siblings. Consequently, they taste better and are better for you. Some experts recommend eating a pound of salmon per week. I didn’t like the idea of eating that much salmon until I ate a serving baked with a lemon caper mayonnaise sauce. Now I am ready to pay up and eat up!

Prep and cook time: 60 minutes

Ingredient list:

1 pound of wild caught sockeye salmon (boneless fillet)

1 lemon

1-2 tablespoons mayonnaise (click here for my mayonnaise recipe)

1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard

1 tablespoon capers

Dried rosemary

Dried thyme

Garlic powder

Salt

Directions: Line a baking pan with aluminum foil for easy clean up. Rinse salmon and pat dry with a towel. Lay salmon skin side down on the foil. Dust top of salmon with salt, garlic powder, dried rosemary, and dried thyme. Don’t be shy with the seasoning. Mix the juice of one lemon, a tablespoon or two of mayonnaise, and a teaspoon of mustard in a small bowl. Spread the mayonnaise sauce evenly over the top of the salmon. Sprinkle capers onto the mayonnaise. Put the fish in the refrigerator to marinate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Move fish from refrigerator to oven and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until the fish flesh flakes easily with a fork.

Note: This tasted incredible. I wanted to make more the next day it was so good. I would enter a cooking competition with this recipe (only I need to work on improving the appearance of this dish). But you need to know that this was my second experience cooking fresh salmon and that my first experience was a disaster. The first time, I bought something on sale that was really cheap (at a store where I no longer shop). I am afraid its cheapness meant it was lower quality, farm-raised, and a bit old. Second, I baked it according to some recipe I found that looked good, but the flesh did not flake easily when tested and a small bite did not taste or feel right. Then, to try to get it fully cooked, I microwaved it a bit. It still didn’t seem right, so I microwaved it some more. That made it tough and it still didn’t taste right, so I threw it away. That cheap salmon proved to be no bargain because I did not get even one meal from it. Remembering my first experience, I was worried when I took my expensive, wild caught salmon out of the oven. However, the fish flesh flaked easily with a fork. I tasted a small bite and it was good. I plated my fish, added a side of cucumber salad, and sat down to eating heaven.

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