Salmon and veggie parcels

METHOD

1. Ask your fishmonger to skin the salmon filets.

2. Scrub well the potatoes and courgettes and slice them in very thin rounds using a mandolin if you have one. Thinly chop the onion and leek. Preheat your oven to 180C.

3. To prepare, lay a sheet of baking parchment on a flat surface, fold in two and draw a half heart , cut along the line so when you unfold the paper you have a hear t shape – kids could help with this!

4. Put a layer of potatoes on the centre of the paper, top with a layer of carrots and a layer of courgettes. Put the a salmon filet on top of the courgettes, spoon some chopped leeks and onions on top , squeeze a bit of lemon over it and top with some of spinach. Drizzle with olive oil and a splash of water, add salt, pepper and dill if using and seal as follows: start pinching the parchment from the bottom corner of the heart and continue all the way to the other end, overlapping each pinch to ensure the parcel is completely sealed. It sounds complicated but once you’ve done it once, there is no mystery to it! Tip: you can use paper clips to secure the folds. Alternatively, you could make foil parcels but since there are questions about how much aluminium leaches from foil during cooking, I’d discourage you from using foil too often in baking.

5. Put parcels in the oven and cook for 15mins. After which time, they should be all puffed up and even a little brown in the outside.
You could open the parcels in the kitchen and serve the fish and vegetables on individual plates, pouring any juices over it, or let each person open their parcel at the table. In any case, beware of hot steam as you open the parcels.
Serve with country style wholemeal bread to mop up the juices.

VARIANTS

Other fish – red mullet, seabass, seabream.
Shellfish such as scallops and clams work very well too.
Other vegetables may be used, chard (stalks removed and chopped), thinly sliced cauliflower, leeks, spring onions, kale in the winter months, etc.