roasted salmon + green beans with olives
Do you ever crave foods you’re not crazy about? I normally cannot stand the taste of cooked salmon and the smell makes me borderline nauseous at times, but for some reason, this dish is the exception to the rule. I think for the most part it’s because the side dish that accompanies it is so fabulous and counterbalances the sweet richness of the salmon so well, I don’t mind.
The combination of green beans, olives, tomatoes and anchovies may sound a bit weird at first, but trust me when I say it’s a perfect balance of sweet and salty. Roasted at blazing heat for just 10 minutes, the anchovies will melt into salty goodness and the tomatoes will be at that perfect bursting point.
I also adore this recipe because it’s another fav from Jamie Oliver, who is notorious for just throwing things in, using handfuls, simple ingredients, etc. Thus, there’s only 8 ingredients in this entire meal (if you don’t count salt and pepper) and I added the couscous, so really it’s just 7. Plus, it’s basically a one-pot (one-pan?) wonder, so what could be easier than that?
Steamy and seasoned.
Olives.
Well-seasoned salmon.
Christmas colors seem to show up a lot during summer, don’t they?
Ready to be roasted.
Simple and summery.
Fresh, light dinner.
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Roasted salmon with green beans and olives
Based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe in The Naked Chef.
Serves 4 (I made a full side dish recipe but only cooked two salmon fillets since there were only two of us).
Ingredients
- 2 large handfuls fresh green beans, stems snapped off
- 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
- 1 cup good black olives (the kind from the olive bar, not a can, please!)
- 10 anchovy fillets, packed in olive oil
- 4 fresh salmon fillets (preferably wild, not farm-raised), skin-on
- 1 lemon
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 box instant couscous, any flavor of your choice (I fancy Near East’s Roasted Garlic for this recipe)
Directions
- Put your roasting pan in the oven on the middle rack and preheat the oven to 475º F. Par-cook the green beans by either steaming them (for about 7 minutes) or boiling them in salted water, for about the same time. You want them to go into the oven with a bit of a snappy bite still, since they’ll roast at such a high temperature.
- Prepare the couscous according to box directions. I often do this at the very beginning, set it aside with the lid on, and it will still be warm by the time we eat.
- Meanwhile, rub the salmon with some lemon juice and olive oil. Season generously and set aside.
- Once the green beans are done, toss with the tomatoes, olives, some olive oil and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
- When the oven is ready, carefully lay the salmon with the skin facing up into one end of the pan. Fill the other end of the pan with the green bean mixture and spread out evenly. Lay the anchovy fillets over the green beans and then roast everything for 10 minutes.
- After everything is nicely roasted, toss the green bean mixture with tongs to break up the anchovies (they should be melty and dissolving) and squeeze some lemon juice over the salmon. Taste everything for seasoning.
- Serve with warm couscous and a glass of chardonnay or chablis.
