Dinner tonight... Glazed Salmon and Snap Peas with Lemony Mustard Sauce

Until recently, I had never cooked salmon. My ridiculously keen sense of smell kept me as far away from making salmon at home as possible. But somewhere along the way my tastes changed and I realized that not only can I handle the smell, I actually like the way salmon, especially when roasted or broiled, tastes. Add to that the fact that it's incredibly good for one's health and that it's crazy fast to cook and, well, it's one of my go-to sources for protein these days.

This recipe for Glazed Salmon is my standard by which all other salmon recipes are judged. It's fast, tastes great, and relies on ingredients (soy sauce, honey, brown sugar and minced garlic) that I almost always have on hand (well, save for the salmon, which I buy the day of or the day before I plan to cook it). Mix up the glaze, place the salmon on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, spread a little glaze on the top of each piece, broil for 8 minutes and voila, dinner. I always ask the fishmonger at the grocery store to cut the salmon into the size portions I want (usually 6 oz each) and to remove the silver skin before packaging it up for me. The result: even less mess in my own kitchen. This recipe is consistently wonderful. I can't recommend it highly enough. It's great for company, but it's also great for a random Tuesday night when I want to get dinner out in a flash. (Clean up is quick as well!)


While the salmon is roasting, I usually make a quick vegetable side dish to go along with it. Tonight, I went with sugar snap peas, boiled for about 3 minutes and then drizzled with a sauce made from 2 Tb. fresh lemon juice, 1 tsp. Dijon mustard, 1/2 a tsp. of bottled minced garlic, all mixed together well. After drizzling on the sauce, I topped the snap peas with a little Parmesan. A warm, crusty bread roll rounded out the meal. All together? Delish.