Roasted Salmon with Bell Peppers

You know what I love best about Lent? Fish sales. I picked up some acceptable-quality frozen salmon for $4.99/pound, and that just doesn't happen any other time of year. Granted, it's not as good as the wild-caught fresh salmon fillets I love, but it's still acceptable quality. For some reason red and yellow bell peppers were also on sale, so I sat down and came up with a recipe that not only looked nice, but tasted good as well. I count that as a win all the way around, especially since my mother liked it also.

I borrowed the marinade from another recipe of mine, using honey, balsamic vinegar, and chili powder. As I mentioned, red and yellow bell pepper was on sale, so I used one each of those and an onion, as well as some olive oil for frying and some Olde Thompson garlic-pepper seasoning.

The salmon fillets were individually wrapped and frozen, but the package said to remove them from all wrapping and place in a different plastic bag to defrost so that's what I did. All four fillets fit into a quart-size Ziploc bag. When they were thawed, I rinsed the bag out and pressed the excess water out of each fillet. Then I mixed the marinade in the bag, added the fish back to it, sealed it, and set it aside for about an hour.

When it was time to actually cook, I heated some olive oil in a nonstick skillet, cut the bell peppers into strips and the onion into rings, and sauteed them with some garlic-pepper seasoning until they were just starting to get tender. You don't want to cook them all the way because they'll finish in the oven, but just enough to take the raw edges off.

I spread the peppers and onion in the bottom of a sprayed 9x13-inch glass baking dish, then laid the fish on top of it. The leftover marinade in the bag was drizzled over the fish and vegetables, then into the oven it went for about 15 minutes.

Cooking time will vary depending on the thickness of your fish. Mine was almost too done at 15 minutes because the fillets were very thin, so make sure you pay attention and take them out when the fish flakes easily with a fork or it could get too dry.

For flavour and colour variety, I added some Green Giant Brussels sprouts in butter sauce on the side. I was really quite pleased with how this entire meal came out, and even moreso once I figured out the nutrition information on it.

Roasted Salmon with Bell Peppers

Serves 4

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 pound salmon fillets (thawed and excess water pressed out if frozen)

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips

1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into strips

1 large yellow onion, cut into rings

1 teaspoon garlic-pepper seasoning

Combine first three ingredients in a zip-top plastic bag; add fish and work with your hands to coat. Let stand 30-60 minutes, turning bag occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 9x13-inch glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add peppers and onions, season with garlic-pepper, and saute about 5 minutes, until just starting to get tender. Do not cook until soft.

Spread pepper mixture evenly in bottom of prepared baking dish. Lay fish fillets on top, and drizzle marinade over all.

Bake for 10-20 minutes, depending on thickness of fish, until it flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Serving Size: 280g

Calories: 248

Calories from Fat: 88

Total Fat: 9.8g

Saturated Fat: 1.4g

Trans Fat: 0.0g

Cholesterol: 50mg

Sodium: 87mg

Total Carbohydrates: 17.9g

Dietary Fiber: 3.0g

Sugars: 13.8g

Protein: 23.4g