I often make salmon as a “fast food” both during the week and for Shabbat. As I often say, fish is the original fast food since it cooks quicker than most proteins and is yummy.

I was in the mood for a crusted salmon and wanted to use regular breadcrumbs as opposed to panko which I don’t always have available in my pantry. So, I didn’t have fresh herbs in the house but had great frozen ones and decided to use parsley and dill which meld beautifully together and go particularly well with salmon.

But I get ahead of myself. First wash and clean your salmon fillet and take a baking pan large enough to hold the salmon fillet. Place a piece of parchment paper on the pan and carefully place the salmon on the parchment paper. Take dijon mustard and start brushing on the fillet.

Spread all over the fillet completely coating it like so:

Set aside and prepare the coating/topping.

Take your frozen (or fresh if you wish, just wash properly and chop very fine) herbs and put into a bowl with the olive oil, crushed garlic, thyme, salt and lastly the breadcrumbs

and stir thoroughly (I put my latex gloves on for this) and mushed it all up till it was this consistency.

The texture is a bit damp for lack of a better word. This is correct. You want it to stick together when pressing onto salmon and it will.

Start with handfuls and press on the mustarded salmon.

I used my gloves for this so it would be less messy.

When you are done it should look like this:

As you see, the whole fillet is completely covered with the topping (not on the bottom). Note how nicely it sticks with the mustard as its “glue” and the oil which holds the crumbs together.

Preheat your oven to 400 F and when ready, bake the salmon for 15-20 minutes till topping crisps up and salmon is done. It is a lovely color when done.

Serve this delectable salmon with boiled new potatoes tossed with a bit of butter/oil and salt and enjoy a feast.

Breadcrumb Herb Crusted Salmon

1 salmon fillet about 2 pounds (a little less than a kilo)
2 flat tablespoons Dijon mustard

Topping:
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley, fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon finely chopped dill, fresh or frozen
1 crushed clove of garlic
2 tablespoons mild olive oil
1 cup breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 400 F. Take a pan large enough to hold the fillet of salmon and place a piece of parchment paper on it.

Place the cleaned fillet on the parchment paper and brush top and sides of salmon fillet with the mustard. Set aside.

In a bowl, mix together all the herbs, garlic, oil, salt and breadcrumbs till thoroughly combined. Scoop the mixture and press gently on top of the mustarded salmon.

Bake 400 F degrees for 15-20 minutes. Nice served with boiled new potatoes or rice or mashed potatoes.