Salmon with basil veg

Last week I made a version of the spring salmon with minty veg recipe from the Goodfood website for dinner one of the nights.  Mine was more like spring salmon with basil veg though as I had leftover basil in the fridge and decided to use it, as per the suggestion at the bottom of the recipe.

With regards to the veg, I used a mix of fresh and frozen veg.  I used broccoli, green beans and frozen peas.  This meant that I had a little bit of prep to do for the broccoli, but I was able to do this while the potatoes were boiling so it didn't really take any extra time.

Cooking the salmon in the microwave worked really well.  I have used the microwave to cook fish before and I've found that you have to be very careful when doing it as it is easy to overcook it and make it rubbery.  However, with this recipe the salmon stayed really moist owing to the that it was covered with the dressing.  I stopped the microwave after 3 and a half minutes to check it and then gave it another 15 seconds and it was done.  If you've not used a microwave before to cook fish then it might be a good idea to check the salmon periodically while it is cooking to make sure it doesn't overcook.

Tip
I made extra salmon, potatoes and veg and chopped it up and froze it in portions for the baby for during the week.  He devoured his portion and ate some green beans as finger food as well.  If I am doing a dinner that is suitable for him I have started making extra to freeze for him rather than making food specially for him now.  When I defrost a portion and heat it up for him I will add a bit of boiled water to it as it can be quite dry when it comes out of the freezer.  I find this is a handy way of getting water into him as well as he can be a bit reluctant to drink it some days.

Cost
The salmon was €6 for three fillets (I used Donegal catch frozen fillets which are skinned), the basil was 40 cent, the lemon was 25 cent, the frozen peas were 30 cent, the broccoli was 40 cent, the green beans were €1.50 and the potatoes I used were 99 cent.  This means the total cost of the meal that I made was €9.84.  For this I feed two adults, two kids and got 8 portions for the freezer for the baby. 

This is one of the more expensive meals that I have made, but given that I got so many portions of dinner for the baby out of it as well I think it works out as quite good value when you consider the cost of jars of baby food.  If I had used all frozen veg then the cost could have been lowered a bit.  Also, when my potatoes and green beans are eventually ready in the garden, and if I planted some herbs, I could lower the cost further.