Flavour Country! Baked Salmon with Olive Tomato Tapenade

Salmon is a very versatile fish to cook with, as it takes well to a seemingly endless variety of flavourings.  That being said, this is probably one of the tastiest salmon recipes I have ever come across -  I made this at home and it was dubbed 'Flavour Country' with the first bite!  Mmmm.  You will be hailed as a gourmet cook - and it's so easy to make!

I found the original recipe here, but I have modified it, including a marked decrease in the amount of oil - only a little olive oil is needed to sauté the onion and garlic.  There is lots of healthy fat (polyunsaturated and monounsaturated) to be had in the salmon and olives.    On that note, you could cut down the calories and fat further by using wild salmon and less olives.  (I used farmed atlantic salmon to calculate the calories as this is what is most commonly available.)  Note also that there is quite a lot of salt in the ingredients (capers, olives etc) - so if you are on a salt restricted diet, you may consider a tapenade with just tomato, garlic, herbs and onion (also delicious). 

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 pounds plum or cherry or grape tomatoes, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/3 cup drained capers
• 1/3 cup sliced pickled jalapeños
• Four servings of salmon (3 oz (85g) each)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375°. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil until shimmering. Add the onion and garlic and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, oregano and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes are just beginning to break down, about 5 minutes. Stir in the olives, capers and jalapeños and simmer for 2 minutes longer. 

2. Place the salmon on a foil covered baking tray. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes until cooked through. Transfer the fish to plates, spoon the sauce all around and serve.


Makes 4 servings.  Per serving: 

Calories: 305
Fat: 19g
Carbs: 15g
Protein: 20g

**note: there are variations in estimates of nutritional info for kalamata olives out there - I have used a middle ground between estimates in calculating the nutritional info.

**note: bed of rice and greens in the picture is not included in nutritional info. 

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