Baked Salmon & Asparagus (Gluten Free and Dairy Free!)

I've started attempting to cook and I'm going to start sharing recipes!

I usually cook at night so I don't normally have natural lighting on my side, so my picture may not be the best. And since I'm not used to blogging my recipes I have to start remembering to take pictures of the cooking process (this one only has 2, sorry!).

Also, John has a wheat and cow's milk allergy so most of my recipes will be gluten free and dairy free. His particular allergy isn't life threatening, it's more of an inconvenience and annoyance so we don't worry too much about butter (because butter makes everything amazing!) but if you are sticking to a dairy free diet you can always switch out regular butter for dairy free butter.

With the exception of this post, my intro to "Gracey is cooking?!" posts, I'm going to try not to write a novel before we get down to the recipe, because I know when I'm searching for a recipe I really am not interested at all in what is being said above it (sorry if I'm offending, I get angry when I'm hungry).

Umm what else...I've given thought to the Keto diet because of my epilepsy but I haven't had a chance to talk to my doctor about it yet. I'd like to give it a shot in combination with my medication if he thinks it's a good idea, and if that's the case then there will be some Keto recipes coming up!

Anyway, my recipe inspiration came from a few different salmon recipes I mashed together from Pinterest, but here is the main one.

I'm hesitant to put a prep time because it takes me AGES to prep because I still suck at everything, so I'm going to kind of take my prep time estimate what a normal person prep time would be.

Note: This was before it was cooked. I am a dingus and didn't take any after pictures because I got excited and ate it. I didn't even think about it because I'm not used to taking pictures of my food before I eat it. Sorry! I'll hopefully get better. 

Baked Salmon & Asparagus (Gluten Free and Dairy Free)

Prep time: 10 minutes 

Cook time: 25 minutes 

Ingredients

4 (6oz) skinless salmon fillets
1 lb asparagus
1 shallot, sliced into thin rings
4 cups spinach
1 lemon thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
Salt & black pepper
Thyme sprigs

Instructions 

1. Preheat oven to 400°F
2. Cut 4 sheets of aluminum foil about 14 inches long
3. Place 1 cup of spinach in the center of each sheet of foil *
4. Divide asparagus equally and place in the center length of foil (about 6-8 pieces per sheet) on top of spinach 
5. Thinly slice shallot into rings and scatter on top of the portions of asparagus
6. Mix together garlic and oil in a bowl, and drizzle 1 tsp over each group of asparagus and shallots. Season each group with salt and pepper. 
7. Rinse salmon and season the bottoms with salt and pepper, then lay each fillet over asparagus. 
8. Drizzle tops of salmon with 1 tsp olive oil and garlic mixture and season with salt and pepper. 
9. Place 2 thin lemon slices and 1 thyme sprig over tops of fillets 
10. Enclose the salmon in the foil by wrapping the sides inward and folding the tops and bottoms in. 
11. Place in single layer on baking sheet in preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. 

*I did not do this, but we had leftover spinach and I thought about it and when I brought it up with John after he said I totally should've done it. I'm 99% sure it would be delicious. 

Again, I'm sorry for the lack of "after" pictures, this one was taken before it was cooked. I got too excited and ate before I even thought about taking a picture. 

I think this is the perfect thing to make if you need to get yo green on. John is obsessed with this spinach and goat cheese stuffed meatloaf that I make, and even though I use way more spinach than the recipe calls for, we are left with a boatload of spinach that I have to find a use for. As I said earlier, I totally should've put a bed of spinach underneath the asparagus. 

He has discovered that he really likes spinach chips though, so I guess that solves that problem. 

Anyway, I need feedback on my recipe post formatting please! I'm horrible at giving directions so let me know if these are unclear, as I'm sure they are. I'll try to fix them if they are. 

Do you have a favorite way to eat salmon? I'm on the hunt for new salmon recipes!