Best Weeknight Brain Boosting Dinner
We are all trying to do the best things for our health, cook more at home, and eat foods that nourish both our body and brain. But to do all that and have to clean up after dinner can be too much. Which is why I love a sheet pan dinner. It’s quick, requires very little cooking skill and YOU ONLY HAVE TO WASH ONE DISH. That’s my favorite part.
Salmon has always been placed on lists of good foods for brain health due to the ample amounts of omega-3 fatty acids it contains. In the culinary sphere, it is a bit more divisive, as many people simply do not enjoy eating fish or not how to cook it properly. I am here with the simplest marinade (two ingredients) to provide an exquisite flavor that compliments salmon (and helps mask the “fishy” taste if that’s not your thing). It is also paired with delicious simple veggies and potatoes so this meal can be prepped in a matter of minutes.
The most important part of cooking salmon is to not overcook it. This can be said of most proteins because many home cooks err on the side of not giving themselves salmonella (good call), but often this lead to dried-out chicken breasts or dandruff salmon (my term for dry flakes of fish, rather than the beautiful moist fall-apart flakiness that we are shooting for). The best solution is to buy a meat thermometer, you can buy one for $10 on Amazon and use it for everything. However, with salmon, there is an even easier solution. A great chef mentor and dear friend of mine taught me one of the most useful tricks in the kitchen, which I now bequeath to you.
As the fish cooks you will start to see some white stuff oozing out. These are the proteins in the muscle tissues starting to denature and are a great indicator of internal temperature. Thus once this visual cue is obtained (typically around the 15-minute mark, but may vary based on oven temperature and how thiqq your salmon is) you can take the fish out and let it rest for 3-7 minutes to lets the carry-over cooking do its magic. This results in a melt-in-your-mouth fillet that will make you think that maybe pescatarians aren’t crazy.
So grab a tray, slap some salmon and veggies on it, and lets’s eat to build a better brain!
