Salmon and Roast Vegetables

Salmon is bursting with health properties. It's high in omega 3 which is good for brain development, healthy skin and hair, and studies have shown anti cancer properties and reduction in risk of cardiovascular disease. Plus it tastes delicious.

This is a dish I have been making for years and it never fails to please. The richness of the salmon goes especially well with sweet roast vegetables, like sweet potato, carrot, red onion and butternut. You can use whichever veggies you like, the below is simply a suggestion. I do try to aim for a spectrum of different colours to keep it visually interesting as well as delicious. All the vegetables have different cooking times, so it's a matter of just adding them in at different points. Remember - the vegetables will shrink while cooking, so don't be overwhelmed by the quantities (and they always taste delicious the next day if they last that long!). Generally I allow an hour to cook and prepare this meal.

Ingredients:

For the salmon

2 fillets fresh salmon, skinned and boned

1 Tbs soy sauce (s)

1 tsp crushed garlic (s)

Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tsp) (s)

1 tsp clear honey (s)

1 cm fresh ginger, grated (s)

1/2 tsp dried dill (s)

Ground black pepper (s)

For the vegetables

1 tsp celery salt

Freshly ground back pepper

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced lengthways ten cut into 2-3cm cubes

1 large red onion, peeled and cut into 6 wedges

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced into 2 cm cubes

1 red or yellow capsicum, thickly sliced

a small head of broccoli, cut into small florets and precooked for 1 minutes in the microwave

1 large courgette, sliced thickly

6 mushrooms, quartered

To serve

capers

lemon wedges

To make:

1) Marinate the salmon with all of the ingredients listed under 'for the salmon'. Rather than mixing them all first, I just place the fillets in a shallow, flat based bowl and pour each one over the salmon one by one, diving the application evenly among the two. Leave in the fridge to marinate until needed, turning once.

2) Turn the oven to 200 °c or gas mark 6. Line 2 oven trays with tin foil and a drizzle of olive oil. Start by putting the carrots on a tray on their own in the oven for 10 minutes, then add the onion, capsicum and sweet potato across both trays, making sure they are evenly spread. Sprinkle over celery salt, pepper, dried rosemary and another drizzle of olive oil. Toss everthing together and return to the oven. Leave to cook for about 10 minutes before adding the broccoli and courgette and turning everything again.

3) After another 25 minutes, add the mushrooms and toss everything really well.

4) Make a space on the tray with the mushrooms for the salmon and add the fillets, pouring any left over marinate over the fillets (this will cook nicely into the vegetables). After 10 minutes of cooking, put the salmon under the grill for 5 minutes, or until cooked through and the edges are charring.

5) Serve on a platter with lemon wedges and capers.

Serves 2 with leftover veggies.