A Good Salmon Dish: Marinate in Olive Oil, Parsley & Garlic. Grill.

It’s amazing how quickly things can be consigned to the dusty memory bins of our brain.

A much-sweated test score is long forgotten. An old grudge barely recalled. Even first love can fade from all-consuming fire into something more like the passing scent of wood smoke on an autumn night—suggesting warmth but packing no heat.

Time does its thing. Eventually the sharp edges dull. But not so with food.

Food is hard to forget.

Take your first perfect summer tomato. You can still summon the exact taste 30 years later but blank on whole semesters of college because in truth, there were tomatoes before this experience, mushy excuses that they were, and all those after.

It mattered.

But are such powerful experiences resigned to only August evenings in the garden or expensive nights out, like the anniversary dinner at Xaviar’s at Piermont where lobster ravioli with caviar changed my understanding of salty and sweet forever?

They don’t have to be. 

We were eating at a great Italian restaurant near our home recently, a rare night out even though the kids are old enough to delight in sending mom and dad off on “date nights” in exchange for pizza and brownies. My husband ordered Salmone Alla Griglia—“Grilled Atlantic Salmon Served Over Marinated Plum Tomatoes and Arugula.” I had Cavatelli Al Ragú Di Maiale—“Housemade Ricotta Cavatelli Tossed In A Savory Pork Ragú Finished With Parmigiano Reggiano.”

Yes, I wanted to curl up happily in my pork ragu, my food version of a Snuggie, but my husband’s salmon was incredible. Fresh and utterly simple. So much so we had to ask the waiter how it had been prepared.

Marinated in a good fruity olive oil, parsley and garlic, he said. Then grilled. That’s it.

Seriously? It must be the salmon. Where do you get your fish? “Oh, wholesale,” the waiter said.

So wait—I don’t have to master the art of making ravioli from scratch like an Italian nonna or splurge on $300 worth of fish eggs for a transcendent food experience? I’m totally going over the top with this, but it was as if God came down and declared, in his deep Charleton Heston voice of course, “Happiness, Katie, is sometimes a choice.”

You want it to be true, you realize it probably is true, but you still can’t wrap your head around the concept.

So I tried making the salmon at home. Too cold outside for the grill so I just pan sauteed. Did not overcook. Miracle of miracles: It wasn’t perfect, but darn close.

Maybe life isn’t so complicated?

Then I was faced with wanting to serve it for dinner again, but without all the above ingredients.

Purists may scoff at the Asian-meets-Italian theme with this "on-hand" version, but I won’t tell if you won’t. I had one last bit of frozen salmon left, no parsley and just one sad skinny clove of garlic. So I turned to one ingredient I keep in the fridge as often as possible, one that never disappoints and pairs so well with salmon—sweet white miso. (Google yourself happy with different recipes if you've never used it before.)

For the weeknight with next to no groceries on hand, this is an absolutely delicious and dead simple presentation that will show you just how wonderful miso can be and still speaks to our perfect hometown meal at the Italian restaurant. I paired this with the same sides they did—a no-fuss arugula salad with flavorful potatoes. (They weren't roasted. I went even simpler.)

Simplest Soy-Miso Glazed Salmon with Arugula Salad and Potato Coins

On Hand:

Salmon (I found a great brand of frozen salmon at a warehouse store. Fresh is obviously better, but this is great to have on hand.)

Soy sauce

Miso, sweet white—this is fermented and keeps a long time in the fridge.

White wine or good dry vermouth. I used Noilly Prat vermouth.

Potato

Olive oil

Arugula

Cherry tomatoes

Lemon

The Method:

Start with the potatoes. Cut into coins—thicker than a chip but not too thick that they will take forever to cook. I pan sauteed them in a shallow bit of olive oil but not with too, too high heat. Hot enough to allow them to brown, but not burn or cook too fast.

While waiting for the olive oil to get to the right temperature, mix a big tablespoon or so of miso with about 3/4 cup of soy sauce with a fork or whisk to incorporate. The miso has a peanut butter consistency so just work it a bit. It’s fine if it’s not perfect.

Place salmon pieces in the soy-miso mix for a few minutes (or even a little bit before.)

In a hot small-ish non-stick pan (it’s better than a big one because I like the soy-miso mixture to pool up and around the salmon) begin to saute the salmon and all the soy-miso mix.

Place potato coins in olive oil. While keeping a good eye on those, watch as the salmon cooks and the soy-miso begins to caramelize.

I can't tell you exactly how long to cook your salmon—it will depend entirely on thickness and heat—but not long at all, generally just about 5 minutes on each side. Here are the cooking signs to watch out for: You want the soy-miso to caramelize, but not burn—think glaze. Once it starts to look thick get ready to hit the pan with white wine or vermouth and keep cooking down. You also want the salmon not to overcook so if you peek into the center and you see just a bit of raw pink-iness in the center, I say you are good to go.  

If you had too much liquid and aren't seeing a thickening or a glaze yet but your salmon is done, take salmon out, cover with foil, and continue cooking down the soy-miso on its own. Likewise, if it’s starting to go too fast, add a little more wine.

Your potatoes should be done at this point. Drain on a paper towel lined plate and hit with salt and pepper to taste.

Toss the arugula and cherry tomatoes with a simple lemon-olive oil vinaigrette. Adding some grainy dijon mustard to the bowl before emulsifying the fresh lemon juice and olive oil is always a great idea. I like the dressing to be more on the lemon side for this dish.

Editor's note: This column originally was published by White Plains Patch.