Roasted Salmon With Fennel and Tomatoes
This is one of those dishes that is simple to make yet nice enough to graduate to a company's-coming meal. We chose a multicolored pack of small tomatoes for added color. The fennel mellows nicely and becomes lusciously tender here, but if you can't reliably find the vegetable or don't care for its taste, you can use leeks instead; see the NOTE, below.
SERVINGS: 2 servings
INGREDIENTS
Two 6-ounce frozen salmon fillets (skin-on or skinless)
1 large or 2 medium fennel bulbs (may substitute leeks; see the headnote and NOTE)
Kosher salt
1 lemon
2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons ground za'atar
Leaves from 6 stems parsley
DIRECTIONS Unwrap and place the frozen salmon fillets on a plate lined with paper towels.
Bring a medium saute pan of water to a boil over high heat.
Meanwhile, trim any fronds and stems from the fennel bulb(s), reserving a few fronds for garnish, then cut the bulb in half. Discard the core (which look like triangular wedges), then cut each bulb half into several wedges.
Add a generous pinch of salt to the water, then slip in the fennel. Reduce the heat to medium; cook for about 8 minutes, or until just tender, then drain well.
While the fennel is cooking, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Finely grate the zest of the lemon into a shallow baking dish, then cut the fruit in half and squeeze in its juice. Cut the tomatoes in half; add them to the mix. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the oil, then season lightly with salt and toss to coat. Roast (middle rack) for 6 minutes.
While the vegetables are in the oven, pat the salmon dry, then rub it all over with the remaining tablespoon of oil. Sprinkle with the za’atar and a pinch of salt.
Add the drained fennel to the baking dish, then nestle the fillets among the vegetables; if the fillets are skin-on, place them skin sides up. Return to the oven and roast for about 10 minutes, or just until the center of each fillet can be flaked apart gently with a fork.
While the salmon and vegetables are in the oven, coarsely chop the parsley leaves. Scatter the parsley and reserved fennel fronds over the fish, fennel and tomatoes. Drizzle with a little more oil, and serve warm.
NOTE: When you scale a recipe, keep in mind that cooking times and temperatures, pan sizes and seasonings may be affected, so adjust accordingly. Also, amounts listed in the directions will not reflect the changes made to ingredient amounts.