My parents would cook salmon a few times every week when I was growing up, because it was one of my younger sister’s few safe foods. They invariably prepared it with a two-hour long marinade in a culturally offensive mixture of inappropriate soy sauces and vinegars mixed with garlic and ginger. It tasted fine to my parents and sister, who are blissfully ignorant of soy sauce conventions. But I find empowerment in *not* eating my salmon that way.

When I eat salmon, it’s usually for lunch. I like my lunches to be quick and easy, resolved within half an hour with minimal cleanup. I usually serve this salmon preparation with plain white rice – mainly because my rice cooker takes 25 minutes and that’s the exact duration it takes to preheat the oven, prep the salmon, and roast it to my preferred medium well. Everything is ready at the same time, and the process is mostly hands-off.

This is my go to meal after swimming laps. I also turn to it the day after a massage, when my whole body is going through muscle recovery. It also supports my clarity on foggy brain days. It’s quick, easy, healthy, and nutritious when my energy is low.

Ingredients

• Salmon fillet
• Salt (I used finely ground sel gris)
• Dry mustard powder (I used Flamingo Estate’s Okinawan harvest)
• Toasted onion powder (from Burlap & Barrel)
• Tomato powder (from Burlap & Barrel)

Method

If you’re serving the salmon with rice, wash the rice and start your rice cooker first.

Preheat the oven to 350˚F (175˚C).

Line a quarter sheet pan with aluminum foil. Lay the salmon fillets (one per person) skin side down on the foil. Wash your hands.

Sprinkle salt evenly over the salmon first.

Next, sprinkle a light layer of mustard powder, more if you’re a mustard enthusiast.

Next, sprinkle an abundant layer of toasted onion powder. Make sure it covers the whole surface. By now the coating of spices on the surface of the salmon should be opaque.

Finally, sprinkle an abundant layer of tomato powder over the salmon. This is the flavor that will hit your tongue first, so make sure you’re thorough with it.

When the oven finishes preheating, place the salmon on the center rack. The duration of cooking time depends on your oven, the thickness of your salmon fillets, and your preferred doneness. I would say the average slice of salmon takes 14 minutes to cook to medium. You could knock off two minutes for a thin slice. I cook mine for 16 minutes for medium well.

The skin does not get crispy when you cook the salmon this way, and it usually adheres to the foil. I serve the salmon by first running a spatula gently under the fillet to loosen it from the skin, then lifting it onto the plate with the spatula and a fork.

If you want a *crispy* salmon experience and you *do* want to eat the skin, you could pan sear the dry rubbed salmon instead of oven roasting.