Fish Friday No. 2

Sheetpan Salmon, Lenten intentions

This week’s Fish Friday recipe is one for the person looking for a way to cook fish in less than 30 minutes without getting a bunch of dishes dirty.

You cook salmon wrapped in a piece of aluminum foil on a sheet pan in the oven for 20 minutes, how easy is that! Add a side of easy fried rice (use minute rice and frozen veggies here to really save some time) and you have a filling, family-friendly seafood meal that comes together quickly.

I made this recipe for Ash Wednesday, as we fast from meat then as well, and the dinner was surprisingly well-received by all three children and my husband, although, not a surprise on my husband’s part. I’ve been cooking this recipe for years, it’s one of the ‘OG’ recipes in A Month of Dinner, Vol. 1 and has always been one I’ve tried during the starting solids phase for my kids as a way of introducing salmon and rice.

The kids all liked the salmon and rice to varying degrees, and I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t say they loved it by any means, but they all ate it! Perhaps that was because dessert was promised afterwards.. but there are meals where they willingly give up the dessert offering because they really don’t care for what I cooked—ha!

While the family polished off the salmon and rice, I did not.

Four years ago, I experienced the worst food poisoning from sushi. I wasn’t hospitalized or anything, but lying there on the bathroom floor, I definitely longed for an IV of fluids to revive me (I think I later went and got one from a Med-Spa). Ever since that food poisoning incident, seafood is hard for me. This has been shocking, because I am not a picky eater in the least bit! I will eat just about anything and feel I have a fairly well-rounded palette. I had no idea that it would take me so long to even be able to look at seafood, let alone have any desire to eat it, and even four years later, I’m still so surprised to feel my stomach churn looking at seafood. I will say, I’m much more receptive to it if someone else prepare’s it for me, whether it’s a home-cooked meal (my mom makes an amazing shrimp and snow pea dish that I love) or a restaurant meal (there’s a great salmon bowl from a restaurant we frequent). But fish in my own kitchen just doesn’t do it for me these days.

This makes Friday’s during Lent a bit challenging for me, but isn’t that the point?

Anyways, the recipes below are great weeknight meals to add to your repertoire beyond Lent, if you’re a seafood family! If not, the fried rice is a healthy, homemade alternative to take out and I like to chop up a cooked (leftover’s are great) pork chop or some chicken and throw it in the rice for a filling dinner. I’ll share some notes with the recipe on ways to make it an even faster meal to put on the table.

Lenten Intentions

What are your Lenten intentions this season? Giving something up? Working on something? More time in prayer?

Lenten intentions can be so much more than just giving up chocolate, they can be something that truly challenges you, but challenges you for good. Something that draws you closer to Jesus and reflects his qualities of love, kindness, devotion, humility.

Practicing daily gratitude, showing love more openly, serving others with sincerity, being kinder to others, being less judgmental, gossiping less, those are just some examples of ways to open your heart this Lenten season and intentions that will have a lasting impact on you as a person, perhaps more so than giving up Diet Coke—although it’s certainly important to work on our health, too, and better ourselves for the sake of longevity and healthy living!

I shared this in a note on Ash Wednesday, but Hallow’s first day of the Lent Pray40 series really set the tone for the next 40 days, it was a powerful first episode, to no surprise of mine, and had me in a state of reflection.

We were called to pray the Litany of Humility in the episode, and while I think this prayer is a fit for anyone, in any stage of life, any career, any age, it certainly resonated with me as a mother and homemaker. The words of the prayer challenged me! As homemakers, so much of our work is unseen by the world. In my opinion, we have to know that in our hearts and be at peace with that in order to fully embrace the deep joy that comes with taking care of our families and our homes. It is a humble role, but it is the most important. So sometimes as homemakers, a dose of humility can quickly remind us of what matters most: we don’t need to seek the approval of others or the approval of the world in what we are doing, when God knows and loves and sees us. There should be no fear in our hearts of being ‘forgotten’ by the world, just because our work isn’t loud or broadcasted for others to see. There should be no desire in our hearts to be approved by others for what we are doing, when we know we are doing such important work, even if it’s quiet work.

The prayer certainly had me questioning my own habits. I’m so glad I’ve continued my social media break, because I know in my heart that my sharing was a form of seeking approval, a form of seeking praise for what I do. I even question what my purpose is here on Substack; am I writing for me, or am I writing in search of recognition? Are you posting something because it makes you happy, or are you posting something in search of likes, restacks and acknowledgement? Are you buying something because you genuinely like it, or because it’s popular and everyone else has it? Are you signing your kids up for an activity because they have an interest and it’s a fit for your family, or because everyone else’s children are doing it too?

When you take away that desire in your heart for approval or the desire to be praised, I think you find so much more confidence and peace in what you’re doing, or I have anyways over the last 7ish weeks of my Instagram break. The opinion of others doesn’t really cross my mind anymore, I don’t see how others do things and question my own habits or choices. I’m able to be fully present exactly where I am with my family, embracing the role I love so much and am so proud of, that of mother and wife and caretaker.

Food for thought, this Lenten season.

I’ll share the Litany of Humility, as I think it’s really powerful!

O Jesus! meek and humble of heart, Hear me.
From the desire of being esteemed,
Deliver me, Jesus.
From the desire of being loved...
From the desire of being extolled ...
From the desire of being honored ...
From the desire of being praised ...
From the desire of being preferred to others...
From the desire of being consulted ...
From the desire of being approved ...
From the fear of being humiliated ...
From the fear of being despised...
From the fear of suffering rebukes ...
From the fear of being calumniated ...
From the fear of being forgotten ...
From the fear of being ridiculed ...
From the fear of being wronged ...
From the fear of being suspected ...
That others may be loved more than I,
Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it.
That others may be esteemed more than I ...
That, in the opinion of the world,
others may increase and I may decrease ...
That others may be chosen and I set aside ...
That others may be praised and I unnoticed ...
That others may be preferred to me in everything...
That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…

Foil Salmon + Fried Rice

Okay, here are the recipes! These are from A Month of Dinner, Vol. 1.

A few notes:

• Use minute rice or some sort of instant rice for the fried rice to speed things up! Even using leftover rice is great for this recipe.

• Use frozen vegetables for the rice. I used frozen peas and carrots and threw in some chopped onion. You can do frozen corn, really any vegetable you want. But using frozen will make the dish come together even faster!

• I use Sambal Oelek in these recipes, it adds some spice, you can omit if you really don’t care for spice, but just a little bit adds great flavor. On the other hand, if you love spicy foods, feel free to get a bit more heavy-handed with your measuring!

• Frozen salmon (or any frozen seafood) is always a great option if it’s easier than fresh!

• As I mentioned above, this fried rice recipe is great as a meal on it’s own if you add in some chopped protein, such as pork or chicken. A much healthier alternative to take-out fried rice and easy to make in your own kitchen!

• We have egg allergies in our home, so I don’t add egg to the fried rice, you can skip it if that’s a fit for your family as well!

Asian Salmon in Foil
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Serves 4

1 pound salmon (more for more people, this was enough for my family of 5)
1/4 cup honey
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tablespoon rice vinegar
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 Tablespoon fresh ginger
1/2 teaspoon Sambal Oelek
Lime juice from 1/2 lime
Salt & pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Place aluminum foil on baking sheet or dish. Place salmon filet on foil.

2. Mix together remaining ingredients to create your sauce. Pour over salmon.

3. Seal foil around salmon to create a foil pocket or tent. I like to add a second piece of foil under salmon pocket in case it leaks.

4. Bake for 20-25 minutes depending on thickness of salmon filet.

Fried Rice
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes (doesn’t include time to cook rice)
Serves 2-3

Jasmine rice, about 2 cups cooked
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
2 small carrots, chopped
1-2 eggs
1/2 cup frozen peas
2 Tablespoons soy sauce or coconut aminos
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon fish sauce, optional
1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek, optional

1. Cook jasmine rice of choice according to package. Leftover rice works great!

2. Add olive oil to a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté onion and carrots until softened. Push to one side and add eggs to scramble. Throw in frozen peas and stir everything together.

3. Add rice and mix all ingredients together. Add soy sauce or aminos, sesame oil, optional fish sauce and Sambal Oelek, and stir until flavors have soaked in.

4. Serve alongside your salmon or other protein, or chop up protein and add to rice!