Salmon Fillets You Can Make In Just 15 Minutes

Busy runners often don’t have time to prepare elaborate meals calling for a laundry list of ingredients. But who says simple has to be boring or less nutritious? With just a handful of easily sourced ingredients, you can turn out a week’s worth of healthy and delicious meals that will greatly limit your labor in the kitchen. Save for oil, salt, and pepper, none of these recipes require more than six main ingredients, leaving you a lot more time to get outside and run.

Salmon Vegetable Packets Recipe

Makes 2 servings

Cooking omega-3-rich salmon and vegetables en papillote in the microwave traps steam to add moisture and guarantees you’ll be digging into crisp-tender veggies and meltingly tender fish (without making your kitchen smell like a fishing trawler). And when you’re facing a dinnertime crunch at the end of a long day, this 15-minute meal ventures into the life-saver category.

Ingredients

• 4 spears broccolini
• ½ c sliced fennel
• ½ c sliced red bell pepper
• 2 6-oz. salmon fillets
• 4 orange slices
• Salt (to taste)
• Pepper (to taste)

Preparation

Fold two 14-by-18-inch sheets of parchment paper in half. Open up sheets and place broccolini spears, sliced fennel and sliced red bell pepper on one side of both sheets. Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper and place on top of the vegetables. Top each piece of salmon with two orange slices. Fold the empty half of the parchment sheets over the salmon and vegetables, and crimp them shut. Microwave parchment packets on high for 4 minutes. Open a corner of a packet and check that salmon flesh is cooked through. If not, microwave in 30-second intervals until salmon is cooked. Let parchment packets rest sealed for 5 minutes.

Matthew Kadey, M.S., R.D., is an author and journalist who specializes in sports nutrition and is the recipient of the 2013 James Beard Award for Food Journalism.