Salmon, Broiled

Salmon is one of my all time favorite proteins.  I love it so much that I’m a purist when it comes to how I like it… I don’t want a heavy sauce, I don’t want you breading it, and I don’t want you buttering it.  Salmon is such a fatty fish as it is, that it needs something to balance that fat… not add to it.  When I order it out, unless I’m at a high caliber type of place, I’ll even ask them to prepare it with no oil or butter.  I have had far too many pieces of salmon swimming in butter placed before me than I’d like, so I just started being one of those people. And although I do enjoy a little Asian inspired/slightly sweet and tangy glaze from time to time, my favorite way to season salmon is simply with salt and lemon.

and that’s it.

And even though I enjoy most foods crispier-crusted than not… I have started preparing my salmon in a completely different way lately and wanted to share it with y’all!

I’ve always pan-seared my salmon, letting it get crispy before flipping, then moving it to the oven to finish cooking.

Just like my steaks.

But, y’all.  It’s so messy.  The grease pops and spatters, it’s fairly easy to overcook if you’re not too careful, and…

well, salmon likes to linger… it likes to leave a scent trail.

And as much as I love the salmon, I don’t want to wear the salmon.

So to fix those problems, and make my life easier (goodNESS I need that these days), I’ve begun to broil it on parchment paper and just walk away from it.  I have zero clean-up.  It’s easy.  And it’s incredibly tasty.

You can still get a crust on it, even though it won’t be as aggressive as if you were to pan-sear it, obviously, but I don’t even miss it.

Nor do I miss cleaning the salmon oil skillet.

Or waking up the next morning to salmon house.

You can season it however you’d like to, even brush it with any sort of slather you prefer on your salmon… wether that’s a dijon-herb, maple mustard, pesto, miso, etc., etc…

But this post is more about the method, and the simplest way to do it.

And sometimes we just need some simplicity in this crazy f*cked up life we’re in.

SIMPLE BROILED SALMON WITH LEMON AND THYME

1. Preheat your broiler on high with the rack up as high as it can go, being as close to the flame as possible… this is generally 6 inches or so.
2. Cover a sheet tray with parchment paper.
3. Place your salmon filets, skin side down, onto parchment.  Space them out an inch or so.
4. I like to count on 8 ounces per adult serving.
5. Season the flesh liberally with kosher salt.
6. Layer 2-3 lemon slices over top.
7. Add herbs if desired, or wait til they’re done.
8. Place directly under the broiler and broil for 6-8 minutes for thinner filets and 8-10 minutes for thicker ones.

…since I don’t know your oven (or your salmon, for that matter).

The quickest way to see if your salmon is done to your liking is to look at it from the side on the thickest part… you can see the color changing from dark to light.  Or poke it to see if it’s firmed up a bit, and as a last resort, get on in there with a fork at the thickest part and check.  Like with everything, it will carry-over cook a bit, and you really don’t want to over-cook salmon… cooking it completely through til it’s dry is not what I recommend.

But, again, it’s your salmon.  And I don’t know it.

Do what brings you joy.

And do it often 😉

thanks for reading.  love y’all.  talk soon. xo