Roasted Salmon with Peanut Udon Noodles

We have a fish market near us that has the very best fish and seafood I’ve ever purchased at a store. A couple weeks ago, they had AMAZING king salmon, and while I rarely buy salmon, this was too gorgeous to pass up. I took it home and realized we had very little fresh ingredients in the fridge, so I improvised, and the results were delicious, so I wanted to be sure you had this little recipe in your back pocket for such ‘emergencies’.

I simply roasted the salmon in the oven, but this could easily be done on the grill or the stovetop in a pan also. I whipped up a little sauce/dressing for the udon that was quite tasty and took a mere minute to put together. I keep packages of udon in the pantry for quick weeknight dinners. For a bit of spice, I use Sambal Oelek, an Indonesian chile paste.

Salmon Ingredients:

• 2 salmon fillets about 6 ounces each
• 4 Tbsp. ginger salad dressing (could also do an olive oil, maple syrup and Dijon mustard mixture)
• ½ tsp. each salt and black pepper

Udon Ingredients:

• 14.2 ounce package of Ka-Me Stir Fry Noodles Udon (or similar) this is two portions
• 1 Tbsp. peanut butter (I like crunchy for this)
• ½ Tbsp. Sambal Oelek
• 1 Tbsp. oyster sauce
• 3 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 4 Tbsp. warm water
• 2 Tbsp. green onion chopped for garnish

Salmon Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and coat the foil with cooking spray or oil it generously.
2. Place the salmon fillets, skin down, on the baking sheet and top with the ginger dressing, the salt and the pepper.
3. Bake for 12-14 minutes until the salmon is cooked mostly through (looks just a bit pink inside when the flesh is pulled apart with a fork) then broil for 1-2 minutes until the surface is browned.

Udon Directions:

1. Cook the noodles as directed.
2. In a medium bowl, combine and whisk all the remaining ingredients except for the green onion. When the dressing/sauce is smooth, add the udon noodles and toss to coat. Stir in the green onion.

Plating Directions:

In a bowl (or on a plate), add a serving of noodles and top with the salmon.

Yields: 2 servings.