047 / 75 · Vegetables, fish and hearty plates

Salmon with Sweet Potato and Broccoli

2 salmon plates, each with one 120 g (4.2 oz) raw-weight fish portion and half the vegetables and finishes · Active 18 min · Cook 18 min · Total 40 min

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This plate uses one microwave in a clear order: sweet potato, broccoli, then two small salmon portions. The vegetables stay covered while the fish cooks. Lemon and dill are measured at the end, so the result is a complete fish-and-vegetable meal without an oven or a claim of crisp skin.

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Salmon with sweet potato, broccoli and a lemon-dill finish.

Prepare equal pieces

Even sweet-potato cubes cook more predictably than a mixture of thick chunks and thin ends. Cut the peeled broccoli stalk more finely than the florets. These two vegetables have different cooking times, so they get separate stages rather than asking the softer broccoli to wait through the whole potato cook.

Check both fish portions

Two pieces of the same weight may still differ in thickness. Choose skinless salmon portions no thicker than 2 cm and arrange them apart on the plate. Turn and swap their positions during cooking. A thermometer goes into each thickest center and other positions; a pale surface or flaking edge does not establish the coldest temperature.

Ingredients

  • 300 g (10.6 oz) peeled sweet potato, cut into 1 cm (⅜ in) cubes
  • 200 g (7.1 oz) fresh broccoli, florets cut to 2 cm (¾ in), peeled stalk to 5 mm (3/16 in)
  • 60 ml (¼ US cup) water, divided: 30 ml (2 US tbsp) for sweet potato and 30 ml for broccoli
  • 240 g (8.5 oz) raw skinless boneless salmon, refrigerated and fully thawed, in 2 portions of 120 g (4.2 oz), no thicker than 2 cm (¾ in)
  • 10 ml (2 US tsp) olive oil, divided: 5 ml for sweet potato and 5 ml for fish
  • 15 ml (1 US tbsp) lemon juice
  • 5 g fresh dill, about 2 US tbsp finely chopped
  • 1 g fine salt, divided: 0.5 g for sweet potato, 0.25 g for broccoli and 0.25 g for fish
  • 0.2 g ground black pepper, a small pinch, for the fish

Set out

1000 W microwave with turntable, Microwave-safe bowl, 1.5 L (1.6 US qt) capacity, with vented cover, Microwave-safe bowl, 1 L (1.1 US qt) capacity, with vented cover, Microwave-safe plate, about 24 cm (9½ in), with vented cover and room to rotate, Knife and board for vegetables, Separate clean board and utensils for fish, Spoon, Kitchen scale and measuring jug, Fast-tip food thermometer, Oven mitts, Two serving plates

Allergens

Fish (salmon). Check labels and substitutions.

Make it

  1. Put sweet-potato cubes, 30 ml water, 5 ml oil and their 0.5 g salt in the 1.5 L bowl. Cover and microwave at 1000 W full power for 4 minutes. Stir and cook 2–4 minutes more until fully tender. Keep covered outside the oven, retaining the small amount of cooking liquid.
  2. Put broccoli, its separate 30 ml water and 0.25 g salt in the 1 L bowl. Cover and microwave at full power for 3 minutes, stir, then heat 1–2 minutes more until florets and stalk are tender. Keep covered. The broccoli heats after the sweet potato leaves the oven, not at the same time.
  3. Rub the salmon with the remaining 5 ml oil, 0.25 g salt and all the pepper. Put the portions apart on the covered microwave-safe plate. Wash hands and clean raw-fish utensils. Microwave at 70% power for 2 minutes, then turn the plate and swap the portions with clean utensils. Continue in 30-second bursts at 70% power, about 1–3 minutes more, until both thickest centers and other checked positions reach 165°F/74°C. Add further bursts if a cool place remains.
  4. Stand the fish covered for 2 minutes. Divide all the sweet potato, broccoli and retained vegetable liquid between two plates, add one salmon portion to each and divide all the lemon juice and chopped dill over both. Serve promptly.

Covered vegetables wait briefly

Cook and serve this as one continuous meal preparation. The vegetables stay covered during the short fish stage; this is not an instruction to hold cooked food on the counter for hours.

Every measure is split

Each plate gets 150 g raw-weight sweet potato, 100 g broccoli, one salmon portion and half the lemon and dill. The fish oil and salt are part of the listed divided amounts.

Ingredient labels

Check labels if using a packaged or seasoned fish product; the written base uses plain raw salmon, not a pre-seasoned ready meal.

A useful detail

The 40-minute planning total allows preparation, up to 8 minutes sweet-potato heating, 5 minutes broccoli heating and 5 minutes fish heating, then the fish's 2-minute covered stand and plating. All stages use one oven sequentially. The microwave-specific 165°F/74°C endpoint is intentionally used before the covered stand; do not replace it with a conventional fish endpoint or a color test. Extra bursts for a thicker portion extend the clock.

Another way

  • Replace dill with 5 g chopped flat-leaf parsley at the finish.
  • Use 300 g (10.6 oz) peeled ordinary potato in the same small cubes instead of sweet potato; keep cooking until each tested cube is tender before moving to the broccoli stage.

Keep it well

Refrigerate shallow portions within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or below and use within 2 days. Reheat once, covered and rotated, to 165°F/74°C in several places; stand covered for 2 minutes. Keep any unused chopped herbs cold separately.