Freestyle Salmon

Salmon baked under a paprika mayo, over wild rice with roast sweet potato and raw veg, every quantity eyeballed

· 1h 14m start to finish · experimental seafood supper

No recipe and no plan. Salmon veggie bowls was the general idea. Nothing weighed and everything done on the fly

Sweet potato first

They take the longest, so they go in before anything else is even decided. Peeled, cut small enough to roast fast, oiled in the bowl rather than on the tray

start Sweet potatoes, salmon and the mortar out on the counter start Oven knob turned on before anything is cut
+4 min Sweet potatoes peeled, one going under the knife +10 min Olive oil poured over the diced potato

Cayenne and cinnamon

Cinnamon leans into the sweetness that is already there, cayenne pushes back against it. Salt after the oil so it sticks

+10 min Cayenne shaken over the bowl +10 min Ceylon cinnamon going in +11 min Both spices sitting on top before tossing

Spread in a single layer on parchment. Crowded cubes steam and go pale

+12 min Tossed and spread out on the tray

Mayo as the marinade

Mayonnaise instead of oil. It is already an emulsion, so it stays where it is put instead of running off the fillet, and it carries the paprika and lemon with it. Lemon juice first to loosen it, then smoked paprika

+13 min Mayonnaise squeezed into the measuring cup +14 min Lemon juiced in +15 min Smoked paprika spooned on top

Garlic and mortar spices

Coriander and mustard seed cracked in the mortar rather than taken from a jar of powder. Coarse, so it stays crunchy on the crust; garlic minced fine so it spreads well

+16 min Garlic cloves and a knob of ginger on the board +20 min Garlic minced fine +20 min Coriander and mustard seed next to the mortar
+21 min Ground seed and garlic stirred into the paprika mayo

The fish

Two packs cut into strips, laid out on parchment and salted

+24 min Salmon cut into strips on the tray, salted +25 min The mayo spooned over each piece

Sweet potato on the upper rack, salmon underneath

+26 min Both trays in the oven

Wild rice

A wild rice blend, cooked in stock instead of water. It takes about as long as the potatoes

+27 min Wild rice blend poured into the pot +28 min Stock poured over the rice

Cut while it cooks

Peppers, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes stay raw. The bowl needs something cold and crunchy under the fish or it comes out too processed and heavy

+32 min Peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers on the counter +33 min Washed and waiting in the colander +37 min Cucumber diced, peppers being sliced
+40 min Cherry tomatoes halved on the board +43 min Everything cut and held in separate bowls

The marinade becomes the dressing

What was left in the cup is already most of a dressing: mayo, paprika, garlic, cracked seed. Oil and mustard turn it into one, and the bowl ends up tasting the same top to bottom

+43 min Oil poured into what was left of the marinade +43 min Mustard squeezed in

Dill chopped fine, lemon, then honey last to round the acid

+44 min Dill on the board +46 min Chopped dill going into the cup +47 min Lemon squeezed in
+49 min Honey spooned in at the end

Turned up at the end

The mayo sets rather than browns at a moderate heat, so the oven goes up for the last stretch

+50 min Salmon set, the crust holding on top +50 min Oven turned up to finish

Out

Salmon after about half an hour, still just holding together under the fork. The potatoes want another fifteen minutes and the extra heat

+55 min Sweet potatoes stirred, edges starting to catch +56 min Salmon out, the crust set and the tray full of juices
+69 min Potatoes done, dark at the edges

The bowls

Rice down first, tomatoes straight onto it so the juice soaks in, then everything else in wedges around the edge. Salmon on top, dressing over the fish

+71 min Tomatoes spooned over the rice +72 min Cucumber, sweet potato and pepper laid around +74 min Salmon on top and the dressing poured over

+74 min The finished bowl, salmon over rice with cucumber, pepper and sweet potato

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