Our salmon traybake recipe with greens and pesto is as delicious as it is nourishing. It also makes for a speedy midweek meal.
While shop-bought pesto can be convenient, making your own is surprisingly easy and keeps things simple with fresh, flavourful ingredients. A generous glug of extra virgin olive oil is key here, too. A longstanding wellbeing staple, it’s rich in heart-friendly monounsaturated fats and naturally lower in the more inflammatory omega-6 fats found in many processed vegetable oils.
And the health benefits don’t end there. Packed with omega-3s and vitamins D and B, salmon is a high protein dish with plenty of wow-factor. Research shows that people who regularly eat fatty fish, such as salmon, have a lower risk of depression, dementia and cardiovascular disease.
Salmon, greens and pesto traybake recipe
Serves: 2
Ingredients
For the pesto
- 40g dill
- 40g mint leaves
- 1 clove of garlic, peeled
- 60g almonds, toasted
- 2 anchovies
- 50g finely grated Parmesan
- 5-6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon zest and juice, plus 1/2 lemon to serve
For the traybake
- 100g green beans
- 100g Tenderstem broccoli, woody ends trimmed
- 100g cherry tomatoes
- 100g frozen peas
- 50g whole almonds
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 x 125g sustainably sourced salmon fillets
- 1 red chilli, de-seeded and finely sliced, to serve (optional)
- Sea salt and black pepper
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6. Put the dill, mint, garlic, almonds, anchovies, Parmesan, oil and lemon juice and zest into a food processor and blitz until smooth. Set the pesto aside.
- Add the green beans, broccoli, tomatoes, peas, almonds, oil and half of the pesto into a large non-stick baking tray. Mix the ingredients well with a wooden spoon to fully coat the veg in the pesto mixture, then season well with salt and pepper.
- Nestle the salmon fillets skinside down between the veg mixture. Spread the remaining pesto onto the salmon to cover the flesh. Put in the oven and roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and serve immediately with an optional pinch of fresh red chilli for an added kick.
