Dinner Diary: 7/18/11 -- Making The Most of Your Oven

• Roasted Coho Salmon in Irish Butter & Shallots
• Cucumber, Garlic, Yogurt Sauce
• Baked Sweet Potato
• Roasted Cauliflower with Whole Garlic Cloves
• Arugula & Mushroom Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette

Perhaps making the most of your oven in the middle of a heat wave is foolish. I was thinking more about mess and cleaning up last night. Almost everything was thrown in the oven for simplicity's sake.

I usually roast salmon, but I never bother adding shallots. It's actually a pretty good idea. Heat a baking dish (pyrex or ceramic) containing about 3 tablespoons butter in the oven. When melted and foamy, toss in a couple tablespoons chopped shallot (some fresh herbs would also be nice) and add a salmon fillet or two, seasoned with salt and pepper. Spoon the melted butter over and if needed add a few slivers more butter on top. Squeeze lemon juice over the fish. Roast until medium rare. I had the oven up to 475 degrees. The fillet was one pound. I cooked it for about 10 minutes. Should have pulled it out 2 minutes earlier. Still delicious.

Roasted cauliflower! Do this. High heat. Olive oil, whole garlic cloves, and salt and pepper. A squeeze of lemon to finish. Cook until tender and dark brown here and there.

One last thought. Garlic, lemon, salt and yogurt (especially whole milk Greek) make a great sauce for lots of things. I added chopped cucumber last night, and I've also added ginger and cucumber to really jazz things up. You could certainly add additional spices or vegetables, like curry or tomato and red peppers for a different take.