Salmon is what I make when time is limited and when I get a fresh delivery from Instacart, which was a story tonight. I am a working mom with some new business ideas, so while I want my family to eat healthy and fresh, I don’t have much time on my hands to devote to pots and pans. Luckily, I discovered Instacart during the height of the pandemic and have been using them to save my very valuable time. They do shopping for me and all I have left is cooking itself.

This evening it was salmon. I am not very big on fish, but I understand its nutritional value and make this meal from time to time. Salmon is great grilled, pan fried, oven baked, or baked in foil. The latter method appealed to me tonight because of how fast it is. I love serving rice and either sautéed asparagus or boiled green beans with salt. Today I decided to splurge on butter and got green beans sautéed on butter and garlic.

It takes no more than 30 minutes to make this meal and 2 medium size filets feed four of us with enough leftovers for my husband’s lunch next day. Instead of salmon, you can use trout, halibut, red snapper, or my beloved Chilean sea bass, which can be $35 per pound at Whole Foods. Sure, Instacart would gladly bring it, but I need to start that new landscaping business of mine to afford it!

Let’s take a look at this super fast and absolutely healthy recipe:

Ingredients:

• 2 medium wild caught salmon filets
• 1 organic lemon
• 1 pound of organic green or French beans
• Organic coconut oil
• Seasoning and salt
• Dried oregano
• 1 cup of Manhattan or jasmine rice
• 2 table spoons of butter
• 3 cloves of organic garlic

Preheat the oven to 365 degrees and get the fish ready before you work on anything else. Wash the filets and place them on foil.

Squeeze half a lemon juice all over them and season with your favorite fish seasoning.

Mine is from Europe and have lots of dried herbs, but no salt, so I add pink Himalayan salt.

Some oregano is also needed and 1 teaspoon of coconut oil on top of each filet.

Coconut oil gives a very mild flavor that enhances the fish perfectly, so I always use it.

Once the filets are seasoned, wrap them tightly in foil. It keeps the heat trapped inside and enables fish to cook in its juices preserving the flavor. You can season the fish and let it sit for a couple of hours or cook it right away. It was right away for me this time.

Set the oven timer to 15-25 minutes, depending on how you like your fish cooked. I love sushi, but oven baked fish has to be cooked for me, so I did 20 minutes.

While the fish is getting ready, start rice. It is very easy to cook fluffy rice in just under 20 minutes! Wash a cup of rice under cold water and place them in a pot with some salt. Add 1 ¾ cups of water and start cooking. As soon as the water starts boiling, stir them, add 1 tea spoon of coconut oil, reduce heat to simmer, and cover the pot with the lid. I just realized that I must have a problem with using coconut oil everywhere!

Do not stir the rice any more, but check it in about 15 minutes and later to make sure you turn it off when all water is almost evaporated. Leave them in the covered pot until you’re ready to eat and fluff with a fork before serving.

Finally, the green beans. I used to boil them, but they can become too soft, so I decided to give sautéing a try and it was a success (not according to my son, but he is very biased against beans). Put 2 tablespoons of butter and 3 minced garlic cloves in the pan and add washed and trimmed green beans. Cook them slowly and don’t forget to stir from time to time.

Season with salt and add some lemon juice at the very end.

They are ready when soft, but not soggy, in about 8-10 minutes. It’s worth mentioning that for mincing and stirring I always use my Personalization Mall cutting board and wooden utensils with my name – they always lift my mood.

When fish is cooked, arrange all three components on a plate and serve hot. Leftovers make perfect next day’s lunch. It’s as great or even greater meal than anything you could order from GrubHub. Enjoy and eat more fish!