Old Bay Honey Garlic Salmon with Green Beans
April 27, 2019 by Nicole Collins
The creative process is a funny thing, isn't it?
The way I dream up recipes is a totally random process. Sometimes, I read or see an item on a menu and think of ways to recreate it at home. Sometimes, I literally dream about what ingredients would go together to make a delicious dish. And, sometimes I work totally backwards and somehow end up with something amazing.
Such is the case with today's recipe!
I'm sure I've told you before, but I LOVE grocery shopping. But, I almost never go to a grocery store without a shopping list. I can't be trusted to be let loose in a store full of delicious ingredients with no guidance.
But, for whatever reason, when I have plans to shop at the farmer's market; I go rogue! I never, ever take a list to the farmer's market.
I guess in my mind, the food is as natural and as fresh as it gets; so I let the food tell me what I want to buy. However, that leads to many awkward moments when I'm holding up shopper traffic while staring away into the abyss that is the produce table trying to dream up what I could use all the things for that week.
At least I apologize when I snap out of it and realize I'm monopolizing the gorgeous finds at the market!
So when the food tells me what to make, instead of vice versa, I essentially have to work backwards to build a dish. It's still a little early for the REALLY good produce in Maryland, but I found some gorgeous looking green beans at the market a couple of weekends ago. And as I worked backwards to think about what I just had to eat with these green beans, I settled on what we're making today.
Today, we're making Old Bay Honey Garlic Salmon with Green Beans.
Does that sound INCREDIBLE or what? Cause it is! Oh yes, oh yes it is!
This recipe is actually a no muss, no fuss sheet pan dinner. Maximum flavor for minimum cleanup and effort is always a huge win in my book.
We start by making a really simple marinade of olive oil, honey, minced garlic, Old Bay, and a squeeze of lemon juice. The marinade gets whisked together, and we use it flavor both our salmon and our green beans.
Now as far as salmon goes, a 6 oz portion is a standard serving size. However, I can rarely find salmon already filleted out to the size I want it. So most of the time, I'll buy a 24 ounce filet of salmon; and I'll portion it out myself. Generally, you can eyeball it to see that your cuts are uniform. I also leave the skin on while roasting the salmon, but I don't serve it with the skin on. The skin acts as a barrier to help us not lose any of our delicious flesh to the sheet pan, but it doesn't get crispy like if would if you pan fried fish; so it's not going to be pleasant to eat.
Once we have our salmon portioned out, our green beans trimmed, and our marinade made; it's time to toss everything in this special sauce on a sheet pan. The green beans get coated with a few tablespoons of this marinade then seasoned with a pinch of salt and pepper. Then, the salmon gets generously brushed with the remainder of the glaze. Roast them together in the oven for about 20 mins, and we're ready to eat!
One of the things I love the most about Old Bay is that when it's used sparingly, it adds such a unique quality and flavor that's different than the spicy seasoning that we're used to. We learned that lesson with this Old Bay Caramel Sauce. The Old Bay is really mellowed out by the honey and garlic, but the flavor we get as a result is rich and succulent...just like that juicy, creamy, perfectly roasted salmon. And the fresh greens beans are the exact balance of salty sweet that makes them the ideal accompaniment to this whole meal.
So, while we're all chowing down on this amazingly delicious summery meal; I'd love to hear about your creative processes? Do you space out into the produce line or dream of grocery lists too? Tell me all about it!
For now, I hope your weekend is full of sun, fun, and salmon with green beans.
Enjoy, and let's eat!
Old Bay Honey Garlic Salmon with Green Beans
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
¼ cup olive oil
¼ cup honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Old Bay seasoning
4 salmon filets (6oz each), skin on
¼ tsp + 1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 lb green beans, trimmed
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil. Place green beans on one side of the pan. Place salmon filets on the other side of the sheet pan.
In a mixing bowl, add olive oil, honey, garlic, lemon juice, and Old Bay. Whisk well to combine.
Drizzle 3 tbsp of the marinade over the green beans. Toss to coat. Season with 1/8 each salt and pepper. Season salmon filets with ¼ tsp salt. Brush the remaining marinade generously on the top and sides of each filet. Bake for 18-20 mins until the salmon is cooked through. Serve!
Recipe notes:
*I cook my salmon with skin on, but I slide the salmon out of the skin when I'm ready to serve. The skin will not get crispy in the oven, so it's not any good to eat. But, doing this keeps me from losing any salmon meat that might stick to the pan.
*Lining the pan with foil first makes clean up MUCH easier, especially with a sugary glaze. Don't skip this step.
*This recipe calls for fresh green beans, not frozen. Frozen green beans are already parboiled, so they won't cook the same way in the oven as fresh beans. Don't substitute them out.
