My daughter loves salmon.  She’s 7.  Won’t really eat much else.  Chicken?  No thanks.  Steak?  Nope.  Pork?  Why bother asking.    She would have salmon 7 days a week for dinner.  She eats lunch and breakfast, but dinner food is just not her thing.  Unless it’s a baked potato, she’s crazy about those.  But I digress.

Not only does she love salmon, she’s extremely discerning.  “Is this farmed or wild?  I think it is farmed.  It doesn’t taste like the King Salmon I really like.”  This is an actual sentence from a recent dinner conversation.  And no, it wasn’t wild.  It was Atlantic farmed salmon because the King Salmon was $24.99 a pound and looked icky.  That’s the technical term, of course.

We cannot fool this girl at all.  She can spot Coho or Sockeye if we try to lie and say it’s King Salmon.  She loves King Salmon and wants only that.  When she gets a job and can shell that kind of money out, she can get it.  For now, it’s whatever is cheaper with Wild being preferred.

On the other end of my dinner table are my husband and 10 year old son.  My husband hates fish.  Mainly because he has texture issues.  He can’t handle rare beef and I think the texture of the fish is too much.  He’s good if it is overcooked to the point of dry though, which is not to anyone else’s liking, of course. My son really doesn’t like salmon.  He’s more of a white fish kid.   Loves monkfish, tilapia, hake, and cod.  We all also like swordfish, but because of mercury concerns don’t really count that anymore.

So, how to bridge the two?  Salmon is a really health fish.  It’s very versatile.   My daughter isn’t about versatile.  She loves it prepared  one way.  The way Julia Child taught me, which is as close to “plain” as it comes.  Kind of poached.  And that’s it.  So I had to find a way to make the fish appealing to her and to my boys.    The only compromise I could think of was adding a sauce to the salmon.   And Salmon two ways was born.  Now, there are no hard and fast measuring rules here.  Use what you have.  Really. I served this with roasted asparagus. Super quick weeknight meal!

Salmon, two ways

1 large onion, rough chop
1-2 carrots, rough sticks
2 celery stalks, rough chop
2 lbs of salmon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Water

Ginger Soy Sauce

1/2 cup of soy sauce (I use gluten free Tamari)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon chopped fresh ginger (1/2 tsp ginger powder)
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion (snag a bit from the recipe above)
1 teaspoon minced garlic

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place onion, carrots and celery on a baking sheet. Place salmon on top of vegetables. Cover lightly with oil and salt and pepper.

Fill baking pan with enough water to cover the bottom of the pan.  You want enough water to survive a 20 minute ride through a 350 degree oven.

Poach until just cooked though, about 20-25 minutes.

About 10 minutes before the salmon is finished cooking, prepare the Ginger Soy Sauce by combining all the ingredients, whisk together and simmer until the Salmon is done. Stir occasionally. Top salmon with the sauce for those that want it, leave the salmon plain for those that don’t!

Ready for the oven!