Traybakes are the ultimate in weeknight ease, but they often suffer from unexciting flavours and a lack of textural contrast. For a dinner that’s anything but lacklustre, we lean on a trio of high-impact ingredients and add the vegetable and fish in stages, so everything comes out of the oven perfectly cooked.
In this recipe from our cookbook “Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year,” we combine miso, soy sauce and honey to make a savoury-sweet, umami-rich marinade for meaty, fat-rich salmon. Some of the mixture is set aside and combined with orange juice and zest, creating a bright sauce for drizzling over the finished dish.
While the fish marinates, the broccolini gets a head start roasting in the oven. Once the quick-cooking salmon is added, the traybake is nearly done. Roast, skin-side down, until the fish flakes and the broccolini is lightly charred and tender-crisp.
Drizzle with the miso-orange sauce and garnish with fresh scallions, red pepper flakes or both. Serve with steamed rice, and perhaps a leafy green salad.
Honey-Miso Salmon and Broccolini Traybake
Start to finish: 30 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons white OR red miso
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons honey
3 tablespoons neutral oil, divided
Four 6-ounce center-cut salmon fillets (1 to 1¼ inches thick), patted dry
1 tablespoon grated orange zest, plus 2 tablespoons orange juice
1 pound Broccolini, trimmed OR broccoli crowns, cut into 1-inch florets
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
Directions:
Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle position. In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, soy sauce, honey and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Transfer half of the mixture to a wide, shallow dish; add the salmon skin-side up and set aside. Stir the orange zest and juice into the mixture remaining in the bowl; set aside.
On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccolini with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Distribute in an even layer, then roast until beginning to brown at the edges, about 15 minutes.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Using a wide metal spatula, scrape up and flip the broccolini, pushing it to the edges. Add the salmon, skin-side down, to the centre of the baking sheet. Roast until the fish flakes easily and the Broccolini is lightly charred and tender-crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter and drizzle with the reserved miso-orange sauce.
Optional garnish: Toasted sesame oil OR toasted sesame seeds OR sliced scallions OR red pepper flakes OR a combination
EDITOR’S NOTE: For more recipes, go to Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street at 177milkstreet.com/ap
Christopher Kimball, The Associated Press
