This easy & elegant dinner will “WOW” every lucky person at your dinner table! Flavorful Salmon filets glazed and then baked with a tangy, citrusy honey, chive and dijon vinaigrette over a nutritious bed of lentils and quinoa and petite french green beans.
In typical food blogger fashion, I had a little planning meeting with my team on Monday (and by team, I mean me and my right hand man, Mr. Coffee) and we came to realize that I have gone almost 9 months without including a recipe for SALMON on Salt Sugar Spice!
I’d like to take this moment to offer my sincerest apologize for this tragic oversight!
Not to worry- I’m making up for time lost with this completely mind blowing recipe, that (hopefully) will become a favorite of yours very shortly!
Here’s the incredible thing about this Baked Salmon and Lentils recipe…. IT’S A SHEET PAN DINNER! That’s right – ONE DISH TO CLEAN UP! If that’s not enticing enough for you, I don’t know what is!
The baking pan that is used for the salmon is also used to cook the quinoa and lentils! Did you know you could do that? Pretty cool, huh?
Let me show you how…
VIEW VIDEO HERE:
Ingredients Used for Baked Mustard Lemon Salmon over Lentils & Quinoa
Salmon: I highly recommend using Wild Caught Salmon, over Farm Raised, But sometimes it’s really pricey and I totally get if that just isn’t in your budget! So if you are gonna go farm raised at least try to pick an All-Natural Farm-Raised Salmon or Environmentally Sustainable Salmon. Here are a few links that are helpful in educating yourself about how to responsibly purchase seafood:
Quinoa: Quinoa is labeled as a “Complete Protein“, meaning it contains all nine of the essential amino acids, which cannot be made by the body! Often misclassified as a “grain”, it’s actutally a seed and there are over 120 different varieties. Most commonly, we see the white, red and black quinoa. This recipe calls for Red. Yellow is a little too mild for this recipe and it also cooks faster. Red quinoa will hold its texture perfectly (meaning not overcook) when baked with the lentils. Black quinoa is also a good option, but I haven’t personally tried it with this recipe. Remember to rinse the quinoa before cooking to remove the saponin, a naturally occurring chemical that coats every tiny grain of quinoa.
Small Green Lentils AKA French Lentils: French lentils are a variety of green lentils. What sets them apart from standard green lentils is their slightly darker hue, smaller size, and they hold their shape extremely well. Black lentils would also work well in this recipe, but I would stay away from yellow or red, as they are better used in currys or dahl as they break down and become creamy when cooked.
French Green Beans AKA Haricot Verts: Haricot Verts are longer and thinner than American green bean varieties and tend to be more tender and have a more robust flavor. This is a perfect vegetable to bake along side the salmon as it has a very similar cooking time. If you want to swap out the French greens beans, I would recommend using skinny asparagus spears.
Olive Oil: You will be dividing the olive oil for two purposes, one part into the cooking liquid, and 1 part to coat the Haricot Verts before baking. Always use high quality, extra virgin!
Cooking Liquid: You will need vegetable or chicken stock, bay leaf and chopped chives. If you are looking to reduce sodium you could also use water in place of a stock.
Ingredients for Lemon Mustard Glaze
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Frech Chives
Dijon Mustard
Honey
Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
Kosher Salt and Cracked Black Pepper
How to Make Baked Mustard Lemon Salmon over Lentils & Quinoa
First, position racks. One to the middle and one to the upper third position of the oven and set oven to 450°
Meanwhile, choose a baking dish that will be wide enough to fit your salmon filets without overlapping, and deep enough to hold 4 cups of liquid. Next combine the pre-rinsed quinoa, lentils, chicken stock, olive oil, chives and bay leaf. Gently mix to incorporate and slide onto middle rack of oven to bake for 45-50 minutes. You do not need to cover.
While the quinoa and lentils are cooking make the lemon mustard glaze for salmon. Simply, combine olive oil, chives, dijon, lemon, honey, salt and pepper. Using whisk or fork, mix to combine. Set aside.
Next, prepare the french green beans by tossing with olive oil, ¼ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper.
You could prepare the salmon now as well. First, give the filets a quick rinse under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Also it’s beneficial let it sit out of fridge for about 15 minutes before it’s time to bake. The practice applies to most situations when cooking meat. It promotes a more evenly cooked filet.
When quinoa and lentils have finished baking, remove from oven and use fork to fluff up a bit. You will also discard bay leaf at this time. Keep oven temperature at 450 degrees.
Layer salmon filets and green beans on top of cooked quinoa and lentils. Then, generously brush lemon mustard glaze on each salmon filet.
Return baking dish to oven on the upper rack and cook for 8-10 minutes. Please note that the cooking time may vary depending on thickness of salmon and desired temperature (medium vs. well). That would be your personal preference, but I will say the the USFDA recommends and internal temperature of 145 degrees F for safety.
For a little color and caramelization of the glaze, bump heat up to broil during the last 2 minutes of cooking.
Remove from oven and marvel at the delicious, refined and completely nutritiously balanced home cooked meal!!!
If you LIKE this recipe, you may also ENJOY some other ONE PAN/POT MEALS!
INSTANT POT SPLIT PEA SOUP WITH FARRO GRAINS
Baked Mustard Lemon Glazed Salmon over Lentils & Quinoa
Ingredients
- 6 5oz filets of salmon
- 1 cup red quinoa
- 1 cup small green lentils french lentils
- 2 tbsp olive oil divided
- 1 large bay leaf or 2 small
- 4 cup chicken stock
- 1 tbsp chives
- 12 oz French green beans haricot vert
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
Lemon Mustard Glaze
- ¼ cup olive oil extra virgin, good quality (always)
- 2 tsp chives
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp honey
- 2 tsp lemon juice fresh squeezed
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450°
- In oven safe baking dish combined rinsed quinoa, lentils, chicken stock, olive oil, chives and bay leaf. Gently mix to incorporate and slide into oven to bake for 45-50 minutes.
- Meanwhile, to make glaze for salmon: combine olive oil, chives, dijon, lemon, honey, salt and pepper. Using whisk or fork, mix to combine. Set aside.
- Prepare french green beans by tossing with olive oil, ¼ tsp salt and ⅛ tsp pepper. Toss to coat.
- When quinoa and lentils have finished baking, remove from oven. Fluff with fork and discard bay leaf.
- Layer salmon filets and green bean on top of cooked quinoa and lentils. Generously, brush lemon mustard glaze on each salmon filet.
- Return baking dish to oven and cook for 8-10 minutes. Cooking time may vary depending on thickness of salmon. Bump heat up to broil and cook and additional 2 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve hot.
Nutrition
Gorgeous!! Easy and beautiful at the same time! Looking forward to trying this recipe!!
Thank you so much for your comment, Jill!! I’m very happy to hear you will be making this recipe! I hope you and the lucky one you are cooking for LOVE it!