Salmon en Papillote

I stumbled upon a Groupon yesterday for a great discount at my favorite neighborhood seafood shop and couldn't resist, despite the fact that I knew I'd only have twenty or thirty minutes to make dinner. Baking "en papillote" is one of the quickest and healthiest ways to coax amazing flavor from fish. In this case, the salmon is steamed in moisture both from itself and from a little bit of added white wine. I had a taste for capers, but you could do this with just about anything: fresh herbs, fresh vegetables, wines and/or stocks. I usually serve this fish with rice or couscous, to soak up all the sauce that's created inside the packet.

 

 

Ingredients:
2 salmon fillets, about 1/3 lb each
3 or 4 fresh basil leaves
1 small lemon, thinly sliced
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp white wine
2 tbsp capers
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Cut out 2, 10 x 10 inch squares of aluminum foil
Arrange basil leaves on foil, and place salmon on top
Arrange lemon slices on top of salmon
Combine tomatoes, garlic, wine and capers in small bowl
Distribute evenly between the two pieces of fish
Sprinkle with salt and pepper
Lift sides of foil up and over fish, and fold over at least twice to ensure a tight seal
Place packets on baking sheet and cook for 15-20 minutes, or until fish
easily flakes apart with a fork
(Be careful when opening the packets - steam will be hot!)

Serves 2