Last updated on October 19th, 2015
Take a simple salmon fillet, cloak it with honey mustard, crown it with sliced almonds, and what will you have? Pure deliciousness, baby.
Honestly, I found this dish was so easy to prepare and so profoundly delectable to eat that I made it and ate it three times last week. The almonds turn crisp and wonderful in the oven, while the honey mustard “seals” the salmon, and keeps it from drying out. Thus you needn’t worry about overcooking the fish.
Ready to rumba? Here’s the step-by-step:
First, lay a salmon fillet in a greased baking dish. For dinner parties, I usually plan 1/2 pound salmon per person. Otherwise, I find that a 1 1/2 pound fillet is enough for me and the Silver Fox. We are big eaters.
Next, grab some honey mustard…
And squeeze it evenly over the fillet. As I mentioned earlier, the mustard will seal the fish and keep it moist. It will also act as a “glue” for the almonds.
Dust the fish with some salt, pepper, and thyme.
Then sprinkle sliced (not “slivered”) almonds over the fillet. Use the back of a spoon to gently press the almonds down. As you can see, my spoon is shaped like a human hand.
Ahead of time note: If you are not going to bake the fish right away, just cover the dish with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours. Remove the plastic wrap before baking!
Bake until the salmon is cooked through, and the almonds have colored just slightly — about 25 minutes. And please note the dark juices in the photo above. Peel these off, and eat them. They are soft, gooey, and candy-sweet!
Now pour yourself a large goblet of thoroughly-chilled Pinot Grigio…
And serve it, if you wish, alongside blanched and buttered green beans and some brown or white rice.
Obviously I’m avoiding carbs. Unless they come from nuts. Or rice. Or these Pumpkin-Spiced Cinnamon Rolls.
Delicious!
Think you’ll give this recipe a test-drive? I certainly hope so. It’s fast and easy enough for a weeknight meal, and elegant enough for weekend dinner guests.
And here, because I love you, is the recipe in printable form:
Fast enough for a weeknight supper, and fabulous enough for a weekend dinner party!
Ingredients
- Salmon fillet -- 1 1/2- to 2-pounds
- Honey mustard -- about 4 ounces
- 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and several grinds of fresh pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- Sliced almonds -- about 1/2 cup, or enough to evenly coat the fish
Instructions
- Center the oven rack, and preheat the oven to 425°F. Lay the fillet in a greased baking dish. Coat the fish with the honey mustard, and sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and thyme. Top with the sliced almonds, scattering them evenly over the fish. Gently press the almonds down with the back of your impeccably clean hand.
- Bake in the preheated oven until the fish is cooked through, and the almonds color just slightly -- about 25 minutes. It is almost impossible to over cook the fish. The honey mustard will act as a sealant, and keep the fish from drying out.
- Serve hot, along with blanched green beans, white or brown rice, and plentiful goblets of Pinot Grigio.
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marie says
Looks wonderful! Unfortunately, it’s a day late — I cooked a salmon filet last night with herbed butter, dilled potatoes and broccoli (the last from the garden). I’ll try this next week.
Linda says
That’s funny, I also had salmon last night with tarragon butter, roasted potatoes, and corn. I guess it’ll have to wait til next week as well. But it does look delicious!
Mary in Iowa says
I’m not a big fan of salmon, but I’m betting this would be delicious with chicken as well. When I was a kid, my father liked salmon, so we had it quite often. I think the problem now is that it can be difficult to find salmon that’s wild caught and not farm raised. To me, the wild fish has a sweeter, milder flavor than fish thatare hemmed in densely populated pens with their accumulated poop and fed–I am not making this up–CORN! “WHAT?!”, gasped I, after reading the chain-store sale hype that proudly proclaimed, “Corn-fed Salmon.” Until then I was completely ignorant of the fact that salmon have a natural and insatiable craving for corn, and have digestive systems equipped to process it. I must have been out sick the day that was covered in biology class. This has to border on animal abuse. No wonder the fish tastes so strong.
Catharine R. says
I made this after you posted the recipe yesterday. Hubby and I both thought it was exquisite! Will make again. And again. And again.
Lorra in California says
Kevin,
My husband (who does most of the cooking in our house) also does a mustard salmon. But because we are not big sweet eaters and because he is from England he uses Coleman’s English mustard. It is divine. I will suggest that he adds some almonds next time.
Thanks for all the good information you send our way. Wish I had your leaves; I could really use some good leaf mold. We don’t get many leaves here in Southern California. However, I do leave my geraniums out through the winter where they flower all continuously. .
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Mary – I do buy wild-caught salmon whenever my local market offers it. And yes, this recipe could work for chicken, too. Must try.
Hi Catharine R – Thanks so much for trying this recipe. Glad it worked out for you!
Brooklyn Bob says
Kevin, I make almost all of your recipes. This one is on tonight’s menu.
Linda Stone says
Recipe looks wonderful and I make a lot of salmon in the oven. Small change is to use parchment paper in pan, which makes for easier cleanup ;o)
Janis Hernandez says
Dear Kevin, I share your love of fresh caught wild salmon. The posted recipe looks elegant and I will try it. As one good turn deserves another, I stumbled across my own recipe which I think you would enjoy for less carbs. I place the salmon on a piece of parchment paper (foil works as well) and lightly drizzle a bit of evoo on the fish to keep it moist. The I squeeze one half of fresh lemon over the eevo. Srinkle very lightly with fine Himalayan pink salt, then garlic powder. Very lightly. Finally completely cover the fillet with fresh dill, I cut mine with a pair of kitchen scissors . Wrap in the paper (or foil) and place on the slotted top of a broiler pan (don’t use the bottom) and bake in a 400 degree oven 15-20 minutes depending on size of fillet. Let rest five minutes wrapped and serve. It is lovely. You can also place the wrapped fillet on the rack in a BBQ grill heated to 400.
Jan Mc says
Love this recipe! The rice (?) side looks good also. Do you have a recipe for rice dishes?
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Brooklyn Bob – Let me know how the salmon turns out for you!
Hi Linda – I love parchment paper.
Hi Janis – Ah, so many ways to prepare salmon. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Jan – Here’s one of my favorite rice recipes: Brown Rice, Lentil, and Kale Soup.
Sherlie Magaret says
I am going to try this when I get a piece of salmon, it looks totally delicious. I want you to know that you have a board on my Pinterest boards so I can save your recipes and find them back again. I love your web site and reading all your entries. We are finally using chopped leaves on our garden and it is so great, easy to do and all ready in the spring with a little tilling. I am also amazed at the number of worms. We also add a bag or two of Omagro under the leaves. It is amazing how easy it is to do gardening this way.
Connie says
I was planning to have salmon tonight, so I will definitely give this a try. We have bees, so I’m going to attempt mixing up my own honey mustard. I love salmon, but always resort back to lemon, white pepper and dill. I’ll try any salmon recipe you throw out there. You haven’t “stirred” me wrong yet.
Angela says
I’ve been following your newsletter blog for quite a few years and never commented. It’s time I give you credit for all of the amazing recipes and ideas that you have shared over the years. I can’t wait to try this salmon recipe! I’m sure it will be divine, like many other recipes of yours that I have tried! Thank you again for your consistently fabulous, fresh ideas and timely advice.
Kathryn says
Hi Kevin:
Greetings from southern Ontario.
I have enjoyed your Sunday emails for several years. You have inspired me to try many different foods in a variety of recipes. Thank you for expanding my gastronomic horizons. Gardening tips are great too.
This Salmon recipe looks great. Thanks for solving tonight’s dinner dilemma.
John says
Looks like “another keeper”, Kevin. Sounds great. We do enjoy our fresh salmon at least once a week.
Christina M. Giordano says
Sounds fast, easy, and delicious. I’ve got some salmon in the freezer so I’ll give this a try during the week. Thanks Kevin.
Joni D. says
I LOVE salmon – will be trying this recipe soon!!
Ann Honer says
I am a little behind trying out you recipes, but yesterday, I made your herbed biscuits and the red wine beef stew.
Both were delicious.
What recipes do you have for kale beside the kale chips?
I have a mountain of it to freeze!
andrea says
oooow, kevin, love you & the new, “print” hot button too!
thank you so much for this new feature!
we’re making your salmon recipe this week.
kath parran moriarty says
Salmon was GREAT. Husband also very enthusiastic. Thanks for the delicious AND easy dish.
Sorry about the snowfall over the weekend. No such occurrence here in VA….
Alice says
I just made this dish using pecans because I had no almonds. Very good. So easy and so tasty.
Alice says
Oh, oh. I was so excited I forgot to say Thank You!
Kevin Lee Jacobs says
Hi Kath and Alice – So glad the salmon worked out well for you. And Alice, nice to know about the pecan variation!
Tara says
I made this tonight for my family, it was delicious! I lined my pan with foil, used wild Alaskan coho salmon, green beans and rice.