I come to you from my dill-dusted kitchen, where I have just made a very easy, very delicious two-pan salmon dinner. This is the kind of thing I make for myself when I decide that my body has had its fill of beige-colored carbs and natural wines, and it might be time for some health. Does this recipe also involve a whole stick of butter? Yes, yes it does. I never said we had the same definition of health.
Now, I love a sheet-pan dinner situation but hate the implication that the aforementioned meal must come together on ONE sheet pan. I’m gonna be honest here: it’s never, EVER been just one sheet pan for me. In theory, one sheet pan makes sense: sounds easier, less to clean, etc. But in practice, it actually ends up being more work. You’ve gotta either really nail the timing of things (like, start with just the cauliflower and then add the salmon when the cauliflower has 10 minutes left to cook) OR you have to f*ck around with a hot sheet pan a million times, moving things around and removing the over-cooked salmon while the cauliflower still has 20 minutes to go. The point of this rant is that in *most* cases it is simply easier to use multiple sheet pans. Plus, sheet pans rank low on the list of things that are annoying to hand-wash so it’s really a win/win.
So, about this recipe!
When I was growing up, my mom made salmon probably once a week. She always bought a whole salmon filet, dusted it with salt and paprika, and roasted it in the oven until it was cooked through. That was it! Normally we ate the salmon with a side of garlic & dill potatoes (who doesn’t love that) but the salmon was really the star of the show. To this day, some version of roasted salmon + veg is my go-to dinner when I don’t want to think too deeply about it. I always have salmon in my freezer and I always have some kind of vegetable slowly dying in my fridge while I ignore it in favor of pasta or sushi delivery, so I’m generally always prepared to whip it together!
Today’s version hits all the high notes: salty & tangy (capers and caper brine), rich & luscious (butter), fresh & herby (dill) and garlicky AF. Potatoes would be an excellent side for this salmon, but I had a head of cauliflower withering away in the fridge, so I decided to go for that instead. Plus, I’m a recent hater-turned-cauliflower-evangelist!
This would be a good time to issue a quick apology to cauliflower: I have spent years ignoring you, abstaining from you, and generally being annoyed by your existence and over-use. However, I now realize I like you a lot. You’re delightfully sweet and, when done just right, the perfect combination of crunchy and soft. We can be friends again. Love, Emily.
Full recipe available below to my paid subscribers, so please consider a paid subscription to continue supporting me/my work! I will always have one free weekly newsletter available to everyone, but over the next few months I’m gonna be moving more of these fun extras (voice notes/videos/discussion threads) over to the paid side.
