I normally love cooking but I currently have a kind of lockdown lethargy where I want to eat delicious fresh food without spending any time in the kitchen. Tray bakes are the answer and I’m kind of obsessed with them at the moment. What could be easier than spending five minutes washing and chopping some vegetables, adding some oil and seasoning and letting the oven do all the work? Actually this recipe does involve a two stage process of cooking the potatoes and courgettes first but you know what I mean.

I usually eat fish two or three times a week so this salmon recipe fits nicely into my dietary repertoire. I love the soy and sesame flavours. Using toasted sesame oil to sprinkle on the ingredients before they go into the oven makes a nice change from my usual olive oil. It’s worth doubling up ingredients to eat as leftovers the next day – flake the salmon into a salad for example.

You can use just about any vegetable for this – perfect for using up that broccoli before it goes off, or a browning aubergine. Here I’ve used courgettes, one of my favourite vegetables. I think the the key to a good tray bake is not to cut up vegetables too small or they will shrink in the oven.

Ingredients

• 1 salmon fillet per person (plus more if you want leftovers)
• 1 large courgette, roughly chopped
• Handful of salad potatoes chopped in half
• 1 red chilli, sliced
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
• About a thumb sized piece of fresh ginger, chopped
• 1 lime, quartered
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
• Pepper for seasoning

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C.
2. Line a tray with greaseproof paper (not essential but it makes it easier to clean the tray after)
3. Add the potatoes and courgettes/other vegetables and sprinkle with some of the sesame oil and mix well, bake for 10 minutes.
4. Add all the other ingredients. Bake for another 10/15 minutes or until the salmon and potatoes are cooked.