Salmon roasted in butter with herbs

I have always loved sea food. Growing up in the mid-Atlantic meant lots of blue crabs, and summers at the beach with a father who loves to fish meant lots of fresh fillets.  I love clams, shrimp, scallops, and even squid.

But I always hated salmon. Yes, salmon, the fish that fish-haters love. And yet I, a fish-lover, hated it. To me it tasted too fishy and the color weirded me out and I just thought is was...icky.

Unfortunately, salmon is kind of a difficult thing to hate. I've been invited to dinner at friends' houses (or worse--friends' parents' houses) many times only to sit down to a fancy salmon entree. Hard to not eat it when someone's prepared it for you. And of course, there are all the health benefits that I read about every time I open a cooking or health magazine.

So about a year ago I decided that I was going to start liking salmon. I started small: I talked a lot about liking salmon. Yes, I needed to take that baby step to get mentally prepared. Then I ate a few bites from a buffet at a work event. Then I tried my aunt's famous whipped salmon mousse at Christmas. When my uncle seared some salmon and I actually really liked it, I decided it was time to try cooking it myself.

So I bought some salmon. Then, as I always do in times of uncertainty, I turned to Mark Bittman.  And Mark, as he always does, led me to an amazing recipe. It's simple--just salmon roasted in butter with salt, pepper, and fresh herbs sprinkled on top. I added slices of lemon because I love lemon with fish and also because the yellow lemon, green herbs, and pink salmon were pretty. I served it with brown rice and kale sauteed with garlic. It was delicious--and now I can truthfully say that I like salmon!

I could eat kale every day!

Salmon Roasted in Butter

Adapted from How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

Some butter (Mark calls for 4 Tbs, I think I used 2)

One 2-3 lb salmon filet (I used a few smaller fillets)

Salt and pepper

Chopped fresh herbs (I used fresh parsley and some dried basil.  Mark says you could use tarragon, chervil, basil, dill, thyme, or a combination.)

Lemon, sliced into rounds

1. Heat oven to 475. Melt butter, either in a saucepan, in the oven as it heats, or (my favorite) the microwave. Pour butter into baking pan.

2. Place salmon in baking pan. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and chopped herbs. Lay lemon slices on top.

3. Mark says to roast about five minutes, flip, and roast for three to six minutes longer until fish flakes easily. I didn't flip mine, and it cooked a little faster since I used small fillets. Enjoy!