Poets & Recipes! Roast Salmon & peppers with caper vinaigrette

I do not consider myself someone who likes to cook.  In fact, "Don't assume I cook" was a motto of mine for quite a long time.  My husband, who is a firefighter, does most of the cooking, thankfully.  I think firefighter-husbands tend to do this, maybe because they have to cook for their crews when on shift, but I know I'm not the only firefighter wife who has a husband who cooks (and cooks well!)  I probably do about 10% or less of the cooking.

When I do cook, I tend to do huge meals then freeze them. This has become my new favorite way to cook because it saves me SO much time on the night of dinner.

Here are two of my favorite books for that--
Don't Panic - Dinner's in the Freezer: Great-Tasting Meals You Can Make Ahead
& Don't Panic--More Dinner's in the Freezer: A Second Helping of Tasty Meals You Can Make Ahead

But when I do cook, just one meal (and not a huge batch of it), some of my best recipes are from a fav magazine of mine, Real Simple.  I keep a folder of favs that I rip out of the magazine and let my family know that I'm open to cooking anything in this folder.

Here's one of my favorite, easiest, healthiest and yummiest recipes from that folder.

I'm in the NW so salmon is pretty inexpensive here, so hopefully, I didn't just choose a meal that will put my poetfriends in the poorhouse.  But I'm hoping you can find a deal somewhere.

Salmon and Peppers With Caper Vinaigrette

Serves 4| Hands-On Time: 10m | Total Time: 25m

Ingredients

• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 2 small red bell peppers, quartered
• 1 fennel bulb, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 piece skinless salmon fillet (1 1/4 pounds)
• 1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon capers, chopped
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. Cook the rice according to the package directions.
2. Meanwhile, in a large roasting pan, toss the bell peppers, fennel, 1 tablespoon oil, ½ teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Roast for 5 minutes.
3. Season the salmon with ¼ teaspoon salt and 1⁄8 teaspoon pepper. Nestle it among the vegetables.
4. Roast until the salmon is opaque throughout and the vegetables are just tender, 14 to 16 minutes.
5. In a small bowl, combine the parsley, capers, vinegar, and remaining tablespoon oil. Drizzle over the salmon and rice and serve with the vegetables.

~~~~~

A few things, I had never had fennel before this recipe so I wasn't even sure what to do with it!  Just cut the bulb like an onion and throw it in, that's it.  And if you don't like fennel, you can substitute onions, but honestly, the fennel is delicious, so I don't recommend that.

So there you are, my favorite easy recipe.  And I'll leave you with a "poem" I wrote a few years ago which is basically my life as a recipe --