Salmon Steak en Papillote with Spinach, Summer Squash and Cherry Tomatoes -- dinner in a packet

Believe it or not, the all time most popular post on this blog is about using the "en papillote" method to cook whiting fish. It was among the first few posts that I wrote, the formatting was a mess, the pictures were directly from a low-quality cell phone camera, and I didn't even write out the recipe in the end! I don't feel my post  did the method justice -- it is a fool-proof method to cook a delicious fish (and a ton of other things).

There are three things about "en papillote" that I love. It is easy -- all it takes is some assembling and you can just throw it into the oven. Done! It is also pretty hard to mess up. Cooking fish can be hard because it gets dry quite easily. But with all the juices sealed in, it almost guarantees the moist fish with packed with flavors. I like the fact that I get to OPEN something as well. If you get it at a restaurant, it is like a surprise parcel. Even when making it at home, it is still mysterious as you never know how things will turn out exactly. It also reminds me of Christmas time and makes me very happy.

Want to guess what is "en papillote" this time? (Technically one would use parchment paper, I am cheating a bit with heavy duty aluminum foil here. )

Well, I guess the title already spelled it out -- but you should still feel proud for being a good/detail oriented reader. (I often find myself ignoring the titles, because the images and recipes grabbed my eyes!)

I have always preferred meat and fish with bones in it. My dad (the weekend chef) makes an awesome pork-bone soup and I used to ask for it almost every Saturday! So for this dish, I went for a hearty cut of salmon steak. Sorry, I forgot to take a new photo, but this is what it looked like (got it from the same store, cut by the same fish monger).

This was more than enough for two people -- I asked for it to be sliced in half. I took a loaf pan, and started my foil packet with a layer spinach. I got the CT local spinach from the coop, only to find out it was too mature for salad. So why not putting it in my foil packet and see how it would turn out? (This is when my work as an experimentalist rubs into my food.) The next layer was slices of onion and summer squash, over which I sprayed some olive oil and sprinkled some salt and pepper. Simple. Finally came the salmon steaks and cherry tomatoes.

Top it off with some lemon zest and celery leaves. Season with salt, freshly cracked peppercorns, garlic granulate, and ground coriander.

Close up your packet and bake in preheated oven. I used 350 degrees because I was also making some zucchini muffins on the side. (Yay to farmer's market!)

Nom nom nom...so, so good...

Salmon Steak en Papillote with Spinach, Summer Squash and Cherry Tomatoes

serves 2

• 2 salmon steaks, about 8 oz each
• 1 cup roughly chopped spinach
• 1/2 medium onion, sliced
• 1 small summer squash, sliced
• 1 tsp olive oil
• handful cherry tomatoes
• 1 Tbsp celery leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper ( I used a tri-color blend)
• pinch of ground coriander
• pinch of lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Take a loaf pan or baking dish (optional but I found it helps to have some sort of food vessel underneath), lay down a large piece of aluminum foil. 
3. Spread out the chopped spinach on the bottom. Place sliced onions and summer squash on top. Spray/drizzle some olive oil. Sprinkle with half of the salt and pepper. 
4. Place the salmon steaks on the bed of vegetables. Grab a handful of cherry tomatoes and place them around the salmon steaks. Sprinkle the celery leaves, lemon zest, ground coriander, together with the remaining salt and pepper to season.
5. If your aluminum foil is not large enough to fold over for a complete enclosure, take a second piece and make a packet. Make sure that all seams are sealed.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 minutes, and get ready for a packet full of deliciousness.