Salmon One Pan Meal with Broccolini and Creamed Watercress
A delectable, one pan Salmon dish sure to make your dinner more enjoyable. The Creamed Watercress is a perfect addition to the Salmon and Broccolini. You won’t believe how easy it is to make this dish!
I’ll be honest, I’ve never used watercress before. I’ve actually never even eaten it, and now, its something that I will use more often. It went really perfectly with this dish. The carrots and parsnips were wonderful with the addition of cumin, and broccolini is always a hit.
Ingredients
- Salmon-get the best you can buy. Refer to Seafood Watch for environmentally sustainable choices.
- Carrots and parsnips- parsnips are more than a funny looking carrot. They have a mild sweetness that pairs well with the carrots.
- Broccolini-a hybrid of broccoli and Chinese broccoli, broccolini looks like long-stemmed broccoli. With a taste similar to broccoli, its at home in a variety of dishes.
- Shallot-with their onion and garlic flavor, shallots are a great addition to this salmon recipe.
- Creamed Watercress- a simple garlic cream sauce with wilted watercress. Add in some garlic, salt and pepper and you have a delicious sauce to serve with your salmon, or just about anything you could think of that needs a little something extra.
Let’s Make This!
Peel and chop the carrots and parsnips. I have chopped them at an angle, but this is optional. I just think it looks cool. Line a large sheet pan with tinfoil and add the carrots and parsnips. Because the carrots and parsnips take longer to cook than the rest of the items, they need to be pre-cooked a bit. Drizzle one tablespoon of olive oil over the carrots/parsnips; sprinkle the salt and pepper and cumin on top, spread the carrots/parsnips out a bit so they bake evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Once you have pre-cooked the carrots and parsnips, add the broccolini, shallots (halved), salmon and slices of lemon if using. I like to add slices of lemon for a bit of flavor. If you add lemon to the salmon, add it to the thin side. If added to the thick side of the salmon, it will slow the cooking down on the salmon.
Things to Note
When cooking salmon, you want it to reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Another way to check for doneness is trying to ‘flake’ the salmon. This means that when you use a fork to pull away some of the salmon, it easily ‘flakes’ away. If it doesn’t flake, its not done. It still should reach an internal temperature of 145 degrees. Salmon can easily over dry, so you want to be sure to keep an eye on it. The salmon I buy is usually about 1.5 inches thick and it cooks up well for me at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. Every oven is different, so cook times can vary.
Make the Sauce
- Butter
- Flour
- Whole Milk
- heavy Cream
- Watercress
- Salt, pepper, cumin
Chop the watercress
To make the creamed watercress, first melt one tablespoon of butter in a pan. Add one tablespoon of flour and stir vigorously to combine. It is very easy to burn the butter/flour mixture so you must keep stirring it until combines.
Add the milk/cream mixture in slowly in batches. After each batch, stir to combine. Stir in the garlic. Once all of the milk/cream has been combined, bring to a boil for a minute (while stirring continuously) so the sauce thickens. This is a thin cream sauce, so it won’t be very thick. Add the chopped watercress and stir until it wilts.
I forgot to take a photo of the watercress wilting in the cream sauce, but here’s a photo of the finished product…
This sauce was soooo good on the salmon. Everything actually. The salmon should be about done cooking by the time you are done making the sauce.
Tada! Dinner is ready. Yum!
Storage Tips
If you manage to have any leftovers, you can store it in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to three days.
More One Pan Recipes To Try
Salmon One Pan Meal with Sweet Potatoes and Asparagus
Salmon One Pan Meal with Broccoli and Smashed Potatoes
One Pan Salmon with Broccolini, Shallots and Creamed Watercress
Ingredients
Salmon
- 1 pound salmon filet
- 1 large carrot
- 1 large parsnip
- 2 shallots
- 1 bunch broccolini
- 2 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 3/4 tsp salt, divided in 1/4 portions
- 3/4 tsp pepper, divided in 1/4 portions
- 1/4 tsp cumin
- 3 slices lemon, optional
Garlic Cream Sauce with Watercress
- 1 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed
- 1 bunch watercress, chopped stems removed
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the over to 400 degrees. Line a large sheet pan with tinfoil.
- Peel carrots and parsnips and chop slices at an angle.
- Place parsnips and carrots on sheet pan. Drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil, sprinkle with 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper, sprinkle on 1/4 tsp cumin. Spread carrots/parsnips over half the sheet pan. Place in pre-heated oven for 10 minutes.
- While carrots/parsnips are cooking, chop up the watercress, measure out the flour and butter, peel shallots and chop in half, peel the garlic and press. Rinse the broccolini.
- Remove carrots/parsnips from oven when done pre-cooking. Add the broccolini to the pan, sprinkle 1 tbsp of olive oil, 1/4 tsp of salt and pepper each on top. Place the halved shallots on the pan. Place the salmon on the pan and sprinkle 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper on top. Place lemon slices on salmon and veggies if desired.
- Place in oven and bake for 15 minutes if your salmon is 1.5 inches thick, or until it reaches an internal temperature of 145 degrees. It should also flake away easy with a fork without being too dry.
- While salmon is baking, combine 1 cup milk and 1/3 cup heavy cream in measuring cup and set by stove. Place frying pan on cook top over medium heat. Melt one tbsp butter in pan, then add 1 tbsp flour. Stir continuously until combined.
- Add the milk mixture to the pan in small batches, stirring to combine the mixture before adding the next batch. This ensures the butter/flour mixture and the milk is fully incorporated. Let the mixture boil for about a minute while continuing to stir.
- Stir in the garlic, 1/4 tsp salt and pepper each, and 1/2 tsp cumin. Add the watercress and stir until wilted. Remove sauce from heat.
- The salmon should be about done by now. Once salmon has fully cooked, remove from oven.
- Add half of each item to two plates (or one and then save the rest). Drizzle the creamed watercress over the salmon. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
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