Martha Stewart Living (June 2015)
You've likely noticed, if you follow us on Instagram, that we’re both on the road a lot of these days.
Clay was recently in Los Angeles and Chicago. Zach was in San Francisco last week. We both went to Kentucky. And then we were in New York City together this past weekend. It’s been fun, but it’s also been a lot of time away from our kitchen.
When we're traveling, we love to eat. A lot. So when we're home, we've been trying to eat more healthfully. So while on the road it’s Zuni's Roast Chicken For Two (For One) and decadent breakfasts. At home it’s lunches and dinners featuring lean proteins and lots of vegetables.
This Broiled Salmon with Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms is exactly the kind of thing we’re looking for these days for a weeknight meal: healthy, light and easy.
We’ve become kings of the roasted salmon over the past few months. We’re eating it at least twice a week, and have gotten into the habit of preparing it roasted, with some simple spice rubs and a bit of oil applied to it. We’ve loved that preparation and haven’t tired of it yet, but we were excited to introduce some new techniques and flavors into our salmon repertoire.
As far as dinners go, this one is pretty simple but with big flavors. Mushrooms and asparagus are broiled first, with a gingery soy sauce, to cook the vegetables. Then the salmon is added to finish off the dish. We made one alteration here: The recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons of sugar to be added to ¼ cup of soy sauce. We feared this would be too sweet for us, so we cut it down to 1 Tablespoon. It was still great, and honestly, we wouldn't have minded even less sweetness; we think we would have been good with 1 teaspoon of sugar.
The entire dish comes together in less than a half hour, although we ended up broiling our salmon a bit longer than recommended because our cuts were a little thicker than what the recipe calls for.
The dish immediately earns a spot on our regular week-night rotation. The fish is flavorful – the vegetables are perfectly cooked, and it’s a complete meal, all prepared in one pan.
Travel can be fun, but sitting down to meals like this reminds us that often, it’s good to just be home.
Broiled Salmon with Asparagus and Shiitake Mushrooms
Martha Stewart Living (June 2015)
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(This photo: Bryan Gardner for Martha Stewart Living)
Notes from Zach and Clay:
We opted to decrease the amount of sugar, from 3 Tablespoons down to 1 Tablespoon. When we make this again, we'll likely go down to 1 teaspoon.
Note from Martha: If using farmed salmon, broil it for 4 to 5 minutes.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus wedges for serving
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons finely grated peeled fresh ginger (from a 1-inch piece)
1 bunch asparagus, trimmed and halved crosswise
12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, halved if large
3 tablespoons safflower oil, plus more for drizzling
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
4 skinless salmon fillets (each about 5 ounces and 3/4 inch thick), preferably wild
DIRECTIONS
Preheat broiler with rack 4 inches from heating element. Stir together soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar, and ginger in a small bowl until sugar is dissolved.
In a large straight-sided ovenproof skillet, toss asparagus and mushrooms with oil, season lightly with salt and pepper, and spread in an even layer. Broil 5 minutes. Add soy-sauce mixture, stir to coat, and broil 3 minutes more.
Add salmon, sprinkle with salt, and drizzle with oil and some sauce from pan. Broil 2 to 3 minutes more (for medium-rare). Serve, with lemon wedges.
