Creamy Dill Salmon and Herb Roasted Potatoes

I haven’t been a good dinner-cooker lately. 

“I just don’t wanna.” (As I channel my inner four-year old.)

But, alas, I’m not a quitter or a whiner (or at least not for long), so I put on my big girl pants and decided to make us a delicious family dinner.  And this time I cooked real fish – a first.   With a side.  And I pretty much made it up as I went along – after researching about a dozen different recipes and realizing I only had a little of this and a little of that.

And, once again, I impressed myself.

The Recipes:

Salmon with Creamy Dill Sauce, a la me

1 to 1-1/2 lbs salmon

butter for greasing

1 lemon, cut into slices

1 medium onion, cut into slices

1 t lemon pepper

1 t onion powder

2 T mayonnaise

2 T sour cream

1 t lemon juice

3/4 t dried dill

1/4 t lemon pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Cover cookie sheet with a sheet of aluminum foil.  Grease foil with butter and place salmon (skin side down) on it.  Sprinkle onion powder and lemon pepper on salmon.  Place onions and lemons on top.  Wrap aluminum foil around salmon in a nice tight little packet.  Place in oven for about 20 minutes.  Turn oven on broil.  Open packet and broil salmon for about 10 minutes – until no longer dark pink on the inside, and the outside is flaky.

Mix remaining ingredients together and place a dollop on each serving of salmon.

Herb Roasted Potatoes, me again!

8 – 10 red potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 t salt

2 T olive oil

1 T dried rosemary

1 T dried oregano

1 T lemon pepper

Place potatoes in microwave-safe bowl, add salt, and stir.  Cover with plastic wrap, cut a couple holes, and microwave on high for about eight minutes.  (This was an easy way for my potatoes to catch up to the salmon – so they could be cooked at the same time.)

Add oil and spices.  Mix well.  Move potatoes to oven-safe dish and place into 350 degree oven.  Bake for 20 minutes, stirring about halfway through.  If not completely cooked, leave in oven while salmon is broiling.  Potatoes are done when a fork easily slides into a potato piece.

{Printable Recipe}

The Results:

What can I say?  They turned out great!

The salmon was a bit intimidating at first.  Especially when I realized that it hadn’t been de-boned.  Hubs showed me how to find the bones and remove them with a small pair of pliers.  After about six bones, I gave in and let Hubs finish up the job for me.

Isn't that a pretty piece of fish?

After that, no problems.  An FYI, though… broiling can go quickly from a nice little warmer to blackened salmon, so keep a close eye on it. I caught it just in time.

For the potatoes and dill sauce, it was really kind of fun just throwing stuff together and seeing what would happen. I’ve definitely learned the value of tasting as you go along, to make sure it turns out the way you want.

The potatoes had great flavor and texture, too.

Hubs plated me up while I got the kids' food ready. When I saw this I tried not to freak out because my foods were touching.

Served with a fresh green salad, we had dinner perfection.

Could I (gasp), actually be getting good at this stuff?