Perfect Roast Salmon with Cucumber-Yogurt Sauce

Piggybacking on my previous entry, salmon is one of the few "super food" meats, due to its high concentration of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are thought to reduce cancer risks and prevent heart disease (amongst other things) by reducing free radicals. But enough tech talk, lets get to the food.

I love salmon. However, I do not love raw fish, as so many do, so serving salmon medium-rare, as is the fashion now, is not my idea of fun. If it is your idea of fun, reduce the cook time.

Seasoned simply, this recipe really lets the flavor of the fish though. Also, I cook this on a 2-piece roasting pan, which allows the fat to drip off the salmon during cooking. I find that lining the bottom layer of my roasting pan in tinfoil greatly speeds up clean-up!

For Salmon:

• 4- 1/2 lb salmon fillets, skin on (try for thicker cuts of salmon; avoid tail-end cuts)
  
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
  
• Salt
• Pepper
• Dry dill
• Garlic Powder
• Nonstick spray
  

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
   
2. Pat salmon dry. Spray roasting pan with nonstick spray. Place salmon skin-side-down on roasting pan.
3. Brush olive oil onto eat fillet. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and dill.
4. Cook for 20 minutes. Remove from oven, place oven rack near the top, and preheat the broiler. Once preheated, broil for 2 minutes, to crisp up the top. Remove from oven.

For Sauce:

• 1 cup nonfat plain yogurt or plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup sour cream (low fat or nonfat is okay)
  
• 1 cup cucumber, peeled, seeded, and finely diced
  
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp chopped garlic
• 2 tsp dill
• Salt and pepper, to taste
  

1. Combine yogurt, sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, and dill. Stir in cucumber. Add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate (covered) until serving.