As the weather starts to get warmer, serving salmon makes a nice main course.

Besides being high in protein, iron, Vitamin D and potassium, it is high in Omega-3 fatty acids which provide more oxygen to the brain and allows us to retain new information, while still remembering old information.

Here are some special main courses to try.

Broiled Salmon

6-8 servings

This recipe by Simone Zarmati Diament, a Florida author and translator, appeared in a Jerusalem Post weekend paper in September 2015

• 1 whole 1½-2 inches thick salmon fillet
• olive oil or vegetable oil spray
• 4 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 Tablespoon liquid smoke
• 2-3 minced garlic cloves

1. Cover a large, shallow baking pan with foil and grease or spray with oil.
2. 15-30 minutes before cooking, place fish, skin side down, on the pan. Spread soy sauce, liquid smoke and garlic evenly over fish.
3. Set fish 4 inches from broiler and cook on high 10-12 minutes. The surface will turn a deep brown; the inside will be moist. Transfer to a platter and serve.

Roasted Salmon with
Olive-Mustard Butter and Orzo

8 servings

This came from an April 2001 Bon Appetit magazine.

• ½ cup butter
• 12 Kalamata or other pitted, chopped olives
• 1 chopped shallot
• 1 Tablespoon chopped Italian parsley
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 8 6-8 ounce salmon fillets, 1¼-1½ inches thick
• 2½ cups orzo
• whole Kalamata olives
• fresh Italian parsley sprigs

1. Mix butter, chopped olives, shallot, parsley and mustard in processor until blended but slightly chunky. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to small bowl.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.
3. Place salmon on sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast 14 minutes.
4. Cook orzo in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but firm. Drain and return to pot. Add half olive mustard butter and toss.
5. Divide orzo among 8 plates. Top each with a salmon filet. Place a small dollop of olive mustard butter atop each filet. Garnish with whole olives and parsley.

Quick and Easy Baked Salmon Filets 

4 servings

I found this on a package of fish fillets and made it often.

• 4 portions salmon fillets
• 2 teaspoons dry oregono
• 4 minced garlic cloves
• pepper to taste
• 2 thinly sliced tomatoes
• 2 small thinly sliced onions
• ¼ cup chopped parsley
• ½ cup dry bread crumbs
• 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a shallow baking pan with non-stick oil.
2. Place fish in pan and sprinkle with oregano, garlic and pepper.
3. Layer with tomato, onion and parsley.
4. Mix bread crumbs with oil and sprinkle on top of fillets. Bake in preheated 450 degree F. oven 8-10 minutes. Serve with wild rice and vegetables.

Sybil Kaplan, z”l, was is a Jerusalem-based journalist, lecturer, book reviewer, food writer, author (“Witness to History: Ten Years as a Woman Journalist in Israel”) and contributor or author of nine cookbooks. She worked as a foreign correspondent for North American Jewish publications and created and lead walks in English in Machaneh Yehudah, the Jewish produce market.