Salmon Two Ways and Very Simple Beets and Greens

I bought a lovely large piece of salmon for dinner the other night. At the store, I also picked up a bunch of beets (greens attached) and a mix of wild rice. My mom had brought down some ripe mangoes and she had then picked what I fear is the last of my tomatoes so we could make a batch of her mango-tomato salsa. What a way to say goodbye to fresh tomato season! I put a bit more jalapeno in that I have in the past and it was fantastic.

My eldest was going out to a play at the high school and I was driving her and her friend. I planned on feeding her first, so the rest of us could then sit down to a relaxing dinner rather than rushing. She loves salmon so I cut off a portion of the salmon and sprinkled it with some “salmon seasoning” I had in the pantry. I debated between poaching and roasting the salmon in the oven, my plan for ours. Both seemed a lot of work for one portion of salmon so I decided to just microwave it. I put it in a glass pie dish, covered it with an inverted bowl to prevent splatters, and microwaved it about 3 minutes.

My mom had already simmered the whole beets and chopped all the greens, so we cut up some of the beet for her, topped with a bit of butter, and gave her some plain mango. It was quite a colorful plate, albeit a bit heavy on the red-orange colors! She sat down to begin eating and declared it “the best salmon ever! What did you do?” I had worried the microwave cooking would ruin the salmon but evidently not! So keep that in mind for a quick, easy way to cook just a portion or two of salmon.

For the rest of us, my mom combined the simmered, peeled, and chopped beets with the steamed beet greens, sprinkled with some salt and pepper, and squeezed half a lemon over it all. Sometimes the simplest things are the best! Plus it made our plates much prettier with the greens contrasting with the otherwise red-orange colors.

I sprinkled the salmon seasoning over the rest of the salmon, melted some butter in a baking dish and placed the salmon skin side up in a 450 oven, turning it once after 6 minutes, then cooking another 6 or so, testing it before that with a fork. I figured with the mango salsa, a simple preparation was best. It was also fantastic. I wish I’d done a side by side taste test between the microwaved salmon and the oven roasted salmon.