It’s January! And that means citrus is at its’ absolute peak for availability, ripeness, freshness, juicy goodness and of course its’ gorgeous colors! Sure, these fruits are wonderful to carve up for breakfast, peel for a snack or juice for their wholesome qualities, but I’ve also been reaching for all kinds of recipes that utilize their refreshing sweetness and tartness in cocktails, desserts, condiments, salads and entrees!
Seafood and citrus (usually lemon) is of course a classic pairing, but with so many varieties of citrus seeming to explode off the shelves at the grocery store this month, it seems a shame to limit a seafood dish to just using lemons! So I say opt for variety!! I’ve made this Slow Roast Citrus Salmon recipe with grapefruit, orange, blood orange and lemon, but the beauty is that you can pretty much use whatever citrus you have on hand and you will create an amazingly delicious and nutritious salmon fillet.
The prep for this is simple simple simple, practically a non-recipe recipe. Slice up your fruit (You’ll notice that I peeled the rinds off in the above photo, but that is completely unnecessary! I was working on several projects at once and so happened to have lots of peeled citrus on hand.) and create a bed on which to lay your salmon fillet. Using a microplane, zest about half of a lemon rind and scatter the zest over the salmon. Spread about 2-3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil over the fillet ensuring that it is fully coated with oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper and then scatter with fresh dill (thyme would be great as well) if you happen to have some on hand. Pop this into a 300 degree oven for a gentle slow roast, the key to this melt in your mouth method for cooking salmon.
The salmon takes about 25-30 minutes to cook, which is just the right amount of time to cook up some grains (such as rice, quinoa or the millet pictured above) if you desire and/or prep a salad. The Citrus, Arugula, Avocado was a perfect pairing with this salmon! Enjoy!
Slow Roast Citrus Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 1-1 1/2 # salmon fillet
- 1 orange
- 1 blood orange
- 2 lemons
- 2-3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 2-3 stems fresh dill (or thyme)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300° F.
- Slice the orange, blood orange and 1 lemon (or whatever citrus fruit you are using). On a parchment paper lined sheet pan, arrange the slices to create a bed or platform for the salmon.
- Lay the salmon fillet a top the citrus. Zest ½ of lemon and scatter zest over the fillet. Spread salmon with extra virgin olive oil ensuring the fillet is fully coated with oil. Sprinkle salmon with salt, freshly ground pepper and several sprigs of fresh dill.
- Place in oven and roast for 25-30 minutes. When salmon is cooked it should take on an opaque pink color. Garnish remaining sprigs of fresh dill.