Roasted salmon recipe with olives and tomatoes

We've learned a lot about living simply in the past year. It is easier to get dressed in the morning when your choices are simply a range of elastic-waisted lounge pants. When you don’t have 10 different places to be, your schedule — although it may certainly still be packed to the gills with home schooling, Zoom calls, and the like — is more streamlined. And when your leisure activities are limited, the ease and pleasure of an after-dinner walk can truly spark joy.

Similarly, this simple dish is proof that dinner needn’t be a big fussy affair to be outrageously delicious. Chop an onion, garlic, tomatoes, plus a few olives and your prep is nearly done. Use just one pan to sauté them on the stove, add the salmon, and place the whole thing in the oven. The result is a robustly flavorful dinner that is as healthful as it is pleasurable.

Salmon Provençal

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

5 plum tomatoes, 1 pound, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/4 cup stuffed Spanish olives, halved

1/4 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, divided

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

4 (6 ounce) skinless salmon filets

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.

2. Heat the oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high. Add the onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 4 to 5 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until wilted, stirring occasionally, about 4 minutes. Stir in the green and black olives and 1/4 teaspoon of the salt and cook 1 minute; remove from the heat and stir in all but about 1 tablespoon of the basil.

3. Season the salmon with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper. Move the topping to the side, place the salmon on in the pan and spoon the tomato mixture over the salmon.

4. Roast the salmon until it is cooked through, about 10 to 12 minutes. To serve, sprinkle with the reserved basil.

Makes 4 servings.