Glazed

Weekdays are seriously hard enough already without having to also stress about how to put together a tasty, nutritious, filling, dinner.

Usually when I tell my friends what I made for dinner their first question is "how long did that take you though?"  The answer: not that long!

Slaving away in the kitchen is overrated regardless of whether or not you've had a long day; here is a fool proof recipe and some tips on how to get it on the table!

I usually toss my protein in the fridge then put everything else I need on the counter.  Start by prepping your cooking utensils, in this case turn on the oven and line a baking sheet with parchment paper/foil.  It's super inconvenient to do this at the last second so doing it first gets it out of the way.

Next I prep my spices.  In this case you are whisking together your glaze and  keeping some oil, salt, and pepper handy.

For this dinner I chose a side of asparagus, beets, and an arugula salad.  Grab a cutting board, a knife, and a veggie peeler.  First rinse and peel your beets, then slice them up, pour a little olive oil into your hands then hand toss the beets over your cutting board.  Scatter them around the edges of baking sheet and give them a 5 minute head start in the oven.

Meanwhile, rinse your asparagus, then chop off the woody end parts, and hand toss them in olive oil. Scatter your asparagus around the edges of the same baking sheet - its okay that they will over lap the beets.

Place your salmon in the center of the baking sheet and cover generously with glaze.  Bake for 15-20 more minutes depending on the size of your salmon and how cooked you prefer it.

While you wait for the salmon to cook toss your side salad in a dressing of choice: I usually make a quick and dirty balsamic by tossing some Dijon with balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.

Use a meat thermometer to check the temp on your salmon then plate up and enjoy!

Apricot Glazed Salmon

Ingredients

For the Asparagus and Beets

• Asparagus spears, rinsed
• 1 medium beet, rinsed, peeled, sliced
• 2 T olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Salmon

• 1 1/2 T all natural, unsweetend Apricot preserves
• 1 T balsamic vinegar
• 1 t pure onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad

• 1 handful fresh Arugula
• 1-2 t dijon
• blue cheese crumbles

Combine

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree.
2. Whisk the apricot preserves, balsamic, onion powder, salt and pepper together.  Taste the glaze and adjust the spices to your liking.
3. Toss the beets in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and spread around the edges of a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, leaving a space in the center where you will place the salmon.  Give these a baking head-start while you prep the asparagus and salmon.
4. Chop the root-ends of the asparagus off then toss the spears in the rest of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Set aside.
5. Spread the asparagus around the edges of the baking sheet on top of the beets.
6. Place the salmon in the center of the sheet and spoon the glaze all over the top of the salmon.
7. Bake everything for 15-25 minutes until cooked throughout.
8. While you wait for the salmon, toss arugula with a few teaspoons of dijon and top with crumbled blue cheese.
9. Enjoy!