Lemon Herb Salmon with Crispy Chickpeas

Name: Lemon Herb Salmon with Crispy Chickpeas
Cook time: 30 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 600 g salmon fillet, skin on; 2 tins chickpeas (800 g); 6 tbsp olive oil; 1 tsp smoked paprika; 1 tsp ground cumin; 200 g cherry tomatoes; 1 red onion; 1 lemon; Small bunch parsley; Small bunch dill; 1 clove garlic; 1 tbsp capers; Salt and black pepper

Salmon roasted on a tray of chickpeas that crisp in the rendering fat, finished with a raw herb and lemon dressing. One tray, thirty minutes.

🕐 30 min👥 4 servings🍽️ Main Course 🌊 Mediterranean 🥗 Clean

Nutrition Info (per serving)

610
Calories: 42g
Protein: 34g
Fat: 32g
Carbs

Vitamin DVitamin B12Vitamin CVitamin KSeleniumPotassiumMagnesiumPhosphorus

Ingredients

600 g salmon fillet, skin on
2 tins chickpeas (800 g)
6 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp ground cumin
200 g cherry tomatoes
1 red onion
1 lemon
Small bunch parsley
Small bunch dill
1 clove garlic
1 tbsp capers
Salt and black pepper

Instructions

1Heat the oven to 220C fan.
2Cut the salmon into 4 even pieces if it came as one long side. Season both sides with salt and pepper and leave it on the counter while the oven comes up to temperature.
3Drain the chickpeas and dry them thoroughly on a tea towel, rolling them around for a minute. Any water left on the surface has to boil off before they can crisp, and wet chickpeas simply steam.
4Cut the red onion into wedges. Slice half the lemon into rounds and keep the other half for juice.
5Tip the chickpeas, cherry tomatoes and onion onto a large baking tray. Add 3 tbsp of the olive oil, the smoked paprika, the cumin and a good pinch of salt, and toss to coat. Spread everything into a single layer with room between the chickpeas.
6Roast for 15 minutes, until the chickpeas are starting to split and colour.
7Take the tray out and push the chickpeas aside to make four gaps. Set the salmon pieces skin down in them and lay the lemon slices over the fish.
8Return the tray to the oven for 9 to 11 minutes. The salmon is ready when a thin knife slides into the thickest part with no resistance and the centre is still deep pink. It carries on cooking off the heat, so pulling it a shade early is right.
9While it roasts, make the dressing. Chop the parsley, dill and capers, grate the garlic, and mix them with the juice of the remaining lemon half, the last 3 tbsp of olive oil and a pinch of salt.
10Spoon the dressing over the fish and chickpeas the moment the tray comes out, and serve straight from it.

The idea behind this tray is that salmon leaks fat as it cooks, and that fat is worth catching. Roast it directly on a bed of chickpeas and they crisp in it rather than sitting in a pan of oil, which turns a side dish into the best part of the plate.

Dry chickpeas crisp, wet chickpeas steam

This is the whole trick. A drained tin of chickpeas holds a surprising amount of surface water, and water has to boil off before anything above 100C can happen. Tip them onto a tea towel, roll them around, and give them a minute. Some skins will come loose - leave them, they crisp hardest of all.

Spread them in a single layer with room between. A crowded tray traps steam and you will get soft, pale chickpeas no matter how long you leave them in.

Staggering the timings

Chickpeas want around twenty-five minutes at a high heat. Salmon wants around ten. Putting them in together means one of the two is wrong, which is why the fish goes in partway through.

Fifteen minutes for the chickpeas alone, then the salmon on top for the last ten, is the split that gets both right on a single tray.

Knowing when salmon is done

Salmon goes from perfect to dry in about ninety seconds, and the visual cues are unreliable. The most useful test is a thin knife into the thickest part: if it slides in with no resistance, it is ready, and the centre should still look darker and translucent.

Salmon also carries over - it keeps cooking for a couple of minutes off the heat. Pulling it a shade early is the right instinct, not a compromise.

Why the dressing is raw

Herbs cooked at 220C lose their volatile oils and turn dull and hay-like. Everything green in this recipe goes on at the end, along with raw garlic, lemon juice and capers, so it stays sharp and bright against the rich fish.

Make the dressing while the tray is in the oven and dress the food hot. The residual heat opens the herbs up without cooking them.

Nutrition

Salmon is one of the few genuinely good dietary sources of vitamin D, along with long-chain omega-3 fats, and a fillet this size covers a large part of a day's needs for both. The chickpeas add roughly 12 grams of fibre across the tray plus plant protein, magnesium and folate, and the tomatoes and lemon bring vitamin C.

At around 610 calories with 42 grams of protein, it is a substantial plate that does not need anything alongside it - though flatbread to mop the tray is not a bad idea.

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