When in doubt, get the sheet pan out!
A sheet pan and a piece of parchment paper are the heroes of many a fast meal in our kitchen. Got vegetables that you need to use? Did you buy too much winter squash also? It's so pretty, who can blame you? With Catch Sitka, you'll be turning your veg and our beautiful Wild Alaskan fillets into an amazing dinner your family will be raving about in 30 minutes or less, with at least 15+ minutes of passive cooking time! That means there's time to catch up with the latest Fish Talk on our Sound Off Blog!
Preheat the oven to anywhere from 400 to 450 degrees depending on your desire for char on your veggies and species you are cooking. Our Wild Alaskan Salmon tends to like a hotter oven than our Wild Alaskan Whitefish like the Halibut, Lingcod, & Rockfish. Our Black Cod (Sablefish) can take any oven temp you throw at it, even a high broil! We always refer to the Catch Sitka Time and Temperature Guide for specific temps and times for each species.
Once you have your time and temp determined, take out your veg. At this point, it's a good time to take inventory of anything that roasts quickly (like in 15 - 20 minutes) and set it aside. This would include things like peeled garlic, green beans, broccoli, delicata squash and the like. If all you have are 15 - 20 minute veggies, you can skip the first round of vegetable roasting and get right to the good part of roasting your fish!
If you are using 30 - 40 minute denser veggies - things like potatoes, winter squash, garlic in the husk, thicker onion wedges etc. - you are going to want to roast to halfway done before adding your Catch Sitka fillets. Be sure to chop veg up into uniform pieces so that it all cooks evenly. Once chopped, everything goes onto a parchment paper covered sheet pan. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil, sprinkle with herbs & spices (dried here - fresh go in our 15 -20 minute pile) and a generous amount of sea salt, toss. Place your sheet pan in the oven and set a timer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, take out your fillets & allow to come to room temp while you get the 15 - 20 min. veg ready. Uniformly chop and season veg with olive oil and herbs, fresh is okay here, and set aside. Take your fillets out of their vacuum sealed packages and lightly rinse them under cool running water. Pat dry with paper or tea towels. Drizzle with olive oil and gently rub to coat. Season according to your veg and your mood. We always suggest Pacific Flake sea salt and cracked black pepper. Roasted granulated garlic powder, cumin, brown sugar, smoked paprika, sriracha, honey - have all made an appearance on our fillets from time to time. Really, anything goes, the only rule is to keep it light, you don't want to mask that beautiful Wild Alaska taste.
When your timer goes off for the 30 - 40 minute veg, remove the pan from the oven, add the 15 - 20 minute veg, and stir. Make room in the middle of the pan for your Catch Sitka fillets and return pan to the oven for another 15 - 25 minutes depending on the thickness of your fillets and temperature of your oven. Thinner fillets should be checked at 12 - 15 minutes at 450. Thicker fillets could need up to 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Our rule of thumb is never overcook your fish! Catch Sitka Seafoods is sashimi grade premium fish, we suggest removing it from the oven a little under the suggested 145 degree safe internal temp. Carryover cooking will often finish the job for you anyhow.
You can serve this with salad, rice, pasta, crusty bread - it's really up to you! The nice thing about it is, you could just eat it straight off the pan too. No one would judge. Definitely not us!
If you're not one to wing it, here's a recipe-ish. I never really measure or write anything down for these sheet pan creations. This is one that everyone loved.
Mexican Fiesta Salmon Sheet Pan Dinner
Ingredients:
- 2 fillets Catch Sitka Salmon (Coho or King)
- 1/2 C Frozen Corn
- 1/2 C Black Beans, canned
- 1/2 C Grape Tomatoes, halved
- 1 Bunch Green Onions, sliced in half lengthwise.
- 1 Tbs. Avocado Oil, divided
- 1 tsp. Taco Seasoning
- 1/2 Tbs. Soy Sauce or Coconut Aminos
- 1/2 Tbs. Sriracha
- Pacific Flake sea salt to taste
- Basil leaves and Lemon slices to garnish
Instructions:
- Preheat oven to 420 degrees.
- Toss corn, beans, tomatoes, and green onions with 1/2 Tbs. Avocado oil, taco seasoning and salt to taste. Arrange them on the sheet pan around the perimeter, where you won't be placing the fish.
- Rinse fillets under cold slow running water and pat dry thoroughly with paper towels. Place fillets onto the sheet pan, skin side down. Mix the remaining avocado oil with the soy sauce or coconut aminos, sriracha, and sea salt to taste and spoon onto fillets.
- Place in oven for 15 - 20 minutes.
- Garnish with fresh basil leaves and lemon slices when finished.
Serve with a quick red cabbage coleslaw & tortilla chips or crusty bread & Mexican rice.
Enjoy & Best Fishes!
Mindy
