Sweet and savoury honey-miso salmon traybake

Traybakes are a go-to for weeknight meals, but they can sometimes lack exciting flavours and textural contrast. For a more vibrant dinner, a trio of high-impact ingredients is used, with the vegetables and fish added in stages to ensure everything comes out of the oven perfectly cooked.

In this recipe from Milk Street 365: The All-Purpose Cookbook for Every Day of the Year, miso, soy sauce, and honey come together to create a savoury-sweet, umami-rich marinade for meaty, fat-rich salmon. Some of the marinade is reserved and mixed with orange juice and zest, forming a bright sauce to drizzle over the finished dish.

While the fish marinates, the broccolini gets a head start roasting in the oven. Once the quick-cooking salmon is added, the traybake is nearly done. Roast, skin-side down, until the fish flakes and the broccolini is lightly charred and tender-crisp.

Drizzle with the miso-orange sauce and garnish with fresh scallions, red pepper flakes or both. Serve with steamed rice, and perhaps a leafy green salad.

Start to finish: 30 minutes; Servings: 4

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp white OR red miso

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

3 tbsp neutral oil, divided

Four 6-ounce centre-cut salmon fillets (1 to 1¼ inches thick), patted dry

1 tbsp grated orange zest, plus 2 tablespoons orange juice

1 lb broccolini, trimmed OR broccoli crowns, cut into 1-inch florets

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oven to 425°F with a rack in the middle position. In a small bowl, whisk together the miso, soy sauce, honey and 1 tablespoon of the oil. Transfer half of the mixture to a wide, shallow dish; add the salmon skin-side up and set aside. Stir the orange zest and juice into the mixture remaining in the bowl; set aside.

On a rimmed baking sheet, toss the broccolini with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and ½ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Distribute in an even layer, then roast until beginning to brown at the edges, about 15 minutes.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven. Using a wide metal spatula, scrape up and flip the broccolini, pushing it to the edges. Add the salmon, skin-side down, to the centre of the baking sheet. Roast until the fish flakes easily and the broccolini is lightly charred and tender-crisp, 7 to 10 minutes. Transfer to a platter and drizzle with the reserved miso-orange sauce.

Optional garnish: Toasted sesame oil OR toasted sesame seeds OR sliced scallions OR red pepper flakes OR a combination.