Baked Salmon en Papillote on Bulghar Salad

In cooking terms they call this “en papillote” but in our house we call it fish in a bag! Personally I love this way of cooking fish because you throw out all the bits & pieces after cooking the fish so there is no “fishy” smell hanging around the house or kitchen equipment. It is also very quick and easy to prepare, which is a must when you have a busy household. The kids love the bright colours from the bulghar salad and are huge fans of the salmon too.

If using frozen fish fillets take them out in the morning at breakfast time. Leave the fillets on a plate covered in a cool dry spot to defrost until you're ready to cook in the afternoon. If it's a particularly warm day then defrost on the bottom shelf of the fridge.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 salmon fillets (skin off)
• 200g of bulghar wheat
• 40g of butter
• 2 spring onions
• 1-2 lemons
• 1 red pepper
• 1 carrot
• Black Pepper
• Salt
• Chive flowers to decorate (optional)

Equipment

• 1 metre length of greaseproof paper
• Cling film
• 1 sharp knife
• 1 chopping board
• 1 ovenproof dish
• 1 large heatproof bowl
• Boiling Water

Method

1. Heat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Cut the greaseproof paper into 4 equal pieces.
3. Pour the bulghar wheat into a large heatproof bowl and pour in enough boiling water to cover it, then cover tightly with cling film and put to one side.
4. Slice the lemon thinly.
5. Place 2 slices of lemon dead centre in each piece of greaseproof paper.
6. Put a fillet of salmon on top of the lemon.
7. Season with salt and black pepper then place a knob of butter (10g) on top of the salmon.
8. Take the 4 corners of the greaseproof paper and pull them together then twist to seal the salmon into a parcel.
9. Scrunch the paper together so that it is tightly sealed.
10. Place your parcel into an ovenproof dish then put it directly into the oven.
11. Set a timer for 20 minutes.
12. Finely chop the red pepper, spring onions and carrots into equal sized pieces.
13. Remove the cling film from the bulghar wheat as it should have soaked up all the hot water at this stage.
14. Stir in the chopped vegetables.
15. When the timer goes off remove the salmon parcels from the oven.

To Serve

1. Spoon the bulghar wheat salad into a bowl. It can be served warm or cold.
2. Open a parcel and flip the salmon upside down on top of the salad. This will allow the juices captured in the parcel to be used as a dressing for your salad.
3. Sprinkle with chive flowers to decorate.

This recipe, and more, is available on Wholesome Ireland

Related: Garlic Dublin Bay Prawns and Buried Treasure Fish Pie

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