Easy Baked Salmon That Melts in Your Mouth

Baked salmon is not only healthy and delicious, it is also one of the easiest and quickest ways to enjoy fresh seafood.

Wild Caught or Farm Raised?

As a general rule, wild-caught Pacific salmon is better for the environment, contains fewer pollutants like dioxin and PCBs, and has a better taste than Atlantic farm-raised salmon, especially if you are lucky enough to get your hands on a good piece of fresh Alaskan King salmon.

However, if you live in the land-locked Midwest, as I do, wild salmon is often rare, and prohibitively expensive when it is available. Not only that, but it is often stored in ways that reduce its tenderness. There are few things more disappointing than paying extra for a wild caught salmon to find its flesh dry and flavor ruined. Though inferior to fresh wild salmon, farm raised salmon, especially farmed salmon from Chile, remains a healthy substitute, with one of the lowest levels of mercury of any seafood and even higher levels of heart-healthy Omega-3 oils than wild salmon.

My family's recipe is as easy as can be and results in the tenderest, melt-in-your-mouth fish you'll ever eat.

1. Buy the best fish you can find. It goes without saying that the fresher and better quality the fish, the better the finished dish will taste. This recipe will let a great fish be great and maybe even bump a mediocre fish into being good, but not even the best recipe can salvage a bad piece of fish and this one is no exception.

For this recipe, I recommend a 1-2 pound salmon fillet with skin.

2. Preheat your oven to 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

3. Rinse the fish and gently pat or shake it dry. Lay it skin side down in an ungreased glass baking pan and season lightly it with freshly ground black pepper and dill, or your seasoning of choice. (Leaving it plain is fine too.)

4. When the oven is ready, bake the salmon approximately 20 minutes on the center rack if it's about one pound. Add a few minutes (2-4 will generally do the trick) if it's two pounds or more.

5. When the salmon is light pink and flakes easily with a fork, it's done. Serve warm with a tossed green salad and a rice or potato side.

Leftovers are a great cold sandwich with some lettuce, mayo, and good bread.

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