I am not sure how to even label this dish. It’s like a sheet pan, warm salmon, asparagus and grape salad. It was created with ingredients I already had in my refrigerator (including frozen wild salmon!) without realizing I would end up using them all in one dish, let alone roasted in the oven all at once (except for the wine seared grapes, but they’re worth it)! I love easy, one sheet pan, oven-baked meals with bright colors and fresh flavors. Especially when they incorporate the colors of the nutrient rainbow.

Ingredients

Serves 4

4 filets of salmon

1 bunch of asparagus

2 heads of romaine lettuce

2 heads of garlic

1 red onion

Handful of herbs (like dill, basil, thyme, cilantro)

1 cup grapes

3 tablespoons red wine

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 375ºF

Prepare the vegetables: slice the onion, remove the hard bottom stems of the asparagus, cut the heads of romaine lettuce in half, and separate the garlic cloves still in the peels. For the garlic, you can also slice off the top of the root and roast the whole garlic root, although I would roast the garlic ahead of the other ingredients (an extra 10 minutes) if using this approach.

Cover the baking sheet with the olive oil and toss on the vegetables to cover them with oil.

Cut two or three little slices into the skin of the salmon with a sharp knife (to allow flavors to penetrate more deeply and cook the fish evenly) and rub olive oil and salt and pepper all over the filet. Place the filets of salmon in the center of the baking sheet and arrange the vegetables around in one layer. Drizzle the balsamic vinegar over the fish and vegetables. You can add more olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper according to your liking. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes

While the fish and vegetables roast, add the grapes to a sauté pan on high heat. The idea is to cook the grapes very lightly, blistering them by turning them often at a high temperature, and add the red wine just when the grapes begin to char. Let the wine re-absorb into a glaze and put the grapes to the side until the main dish is ready.

Remove the fish and vegetables from the oven, arrange them on a serving plate and add the grapes. You can add a drizzle of olive oil and balsamic vinegar as a final garnish. This salad is perfect for parties because it tastes just as good when it cools off!