things i've been meaning to blog about, cook it edition: baked salmon

After I started a job in Columbus, life got very hectic and I took an unplanned break from this blog. Since leaving that job and moving again, I've returned and recommitted regularly blogging at Beagle & Bear. Part of that returns includes a blog series called "Things I've Been Meaning to Blog About," which is made up of posts I intended to publish in summer or early fall but haven't yet. This post is part of that series.

One of my presents upon graduation this past May was a Barnes & Noble gift card. I used it to buy the cookbook I am reading in the photo above: 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know: Engagement Chicken and 99 Other Dishes to Get You Everything You Want in Life by Cindi Leive and the editors of Glamour.

I adore this cookbook. It has the readability and fun of an issue of Glamour, and the recipes are relatively uncomplicated and delicious. The star recipe in the cookbook is a meal called Engagement Chicken, which is accompanied by an explanation, stories, and a Hall of Fame list. In addition to an introduction and the Engagement Chicken story, the recipes are categorized into the following chapters: Breakfast and Brunch, Nibbles, Drinks, Soups and Salads, Meat and Poultry, Seafood, Pizza and Pasta, Meat-Free Mains, Sides, Cheap and Easy Meals, Sweets, and Menus. All the recipes have cute and cheeky names, such as He Stayed Over Omelets, Forget the Mistake You Made At Work Margarita, Get Him to Clean the Apartment Burgers, Instant Happiness Mac and Cheese, BFF Birthday Cake, etc. Each recipe is rated on a scale of one to three high heels, printed in pink and black, and is preceded by a short story explaining the background of and/or use for the recipe.

I made my first recipe from the book late this summer. Together Dan and I made Bikini Season Baked Salmon, although we slightly altered the ingredient list for our purposes. It was easy to make, tasted wonderful, and left us feeling satisfied and healthy.

Bikini Season Baked Salmon, adapted from Glamour magazine's 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know

Ingredients

Four-ounce skin-on salmon fillets

Sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Lemon salt

3 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup lemon juice

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Put the salmon skin-side down in a ceramic or glass baking pan. Rub the salmon fillets with 1 tablespoon olive oil and season generously with sea salt, lemon salt, and pepper. Let the salmon sit in the pan for 10 minutes.

2. Drizzle the white wine over the salmon. Put the pan in the oven and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the salmon fillets are opaque.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Top each salmon fillet with the lemon juice mixture and serve immediately.