Soy-Citrus Marinade for Salmon (made in minutes!)

I zipped around town with my little one this morning running errands. I had hoped to do some cooking while the kids napped so one stop was the fish market. But, as we all know, some days just don’t go quite as planned. My older one decided to make kites instead of nap, and my little one fell asleep minutes before we were all three due to leave for a swim lesson. Sweet. So, I popped the diaper off, the Elmo undies on, transferred him to his car seat and hoped for the best. The little one and I spent the swim lesson in the Y bathroom stall while my older one splashed about learning new tricks I wish I could have seen. Seeing as how neither kid seemed to have recovered from their ear infections of last week, we then tacked on a trip to the pediatrician (always fun at dinnertime) and a detour to Walgreen’s which experienced a run on antibiotics today and was out of stock. Fear that my little one would wet in his car seat if I trekked two towns over for the meds, we went home and made quick PB&J’s, showered, got them in their PJ’s and off we went, again. By the time I came home I was spent…and I still had to make dinner for my husband and me.

For a meal made, literally, in minutes it was pretty darn good. I made the marinade in the couple minutes the kids picked out their books for the night and let the salmon marinate for about a half hour while I put them to bed; I preheated the oven to 400 while checking my email; and in the 15 minutes it took to roast the salmon, I steamed some broccoli, toasted sesame seeds, reduced the marinade and heated up a rice side dish packet.

Salmon Marinade: whisk soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, a bit of honey, a splash of orange juice, a splash of sesame oil (olive oil would work well too as the base, if that's what you have on hand...or if you do not care for sesame!) and some chopped onion; let the salmon marinate for about a half hour. Before popping it in the oven, I also drizzled it with a bit of honey. I removed the salmon from the marinade but took some of the onions and popped them on top of the fish, then roasted the salmon on a rimmed cookie sheet at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. While the salmon was cooking, I reduced (boiled down to half its volume) the marinade which I then drizzled on the steamed broccoli and the salmon.

Short on time, I steamed the broccoli in the microwave (by adding a couple T of water to the broccoli in a ceramic bowl, covering with a plate and microwaving it for 2 ½ minutes).

The fish market had black and regular sesame seeds which I picked up on a whim, at $2 each. Texturally and flavor-wise they were a nice addition sprinkled on the salmon and broccoli.

And, as I have mentioned before, I am not at all opposed to using prepared foods as long as I recognize (and would cook with) all of the ingredients. The one I used tonight was Trader Joe’s Lentil Rice Biryani. They come in pantry stable pouches and I always keep a couple on hand. Seeds of Change also makes some good ones. This TJ's one is made with: basmati rice, water, potatoes, onion, chickpeas, tomatoes, sunflower oil, French green beans, green lentils, mint leaves, cumin, chili powder, coriander, turmeric, cardamom, clove and cinnamon. Delicious!