Parchment Salmon with Leeks, Fennel and Green Olives & Herbed Orzo

Cooking fish in parchment is super easy, delicious, and healthy. You put a bunch of vegetables, olive oil, salt and pepper on a big piece of parchment paper, top it with a seasoned salmon fillet, and then add the secret ingredient - compound butter. This butter is full of herbs, shallot and lemon zest, and it helps cook the fish as it melts, leaving behind a ton of delicious flavor on top of the fish.

The fish only takes ~10-12 minutes to cook, so it's the perfect dinner to make on a busy weeknight. It's also super elegant and fun to serve for a dinner party - I prep all the packets before friends arrive, and then everyone gets their own packet for dinner with a few favorite sides. During the fall, I like to serve this with some rice or creamy orzo, as I show here. All of the herbs and vegetables in the salmon packet get used in the orzo as well, so you've already chopped and prepped everything for both parts of the dish.

If you want this dish to be dairy free, and skip the butter, you can chop some of the herbs, shallot, and zest the lemon over the fish and add another tablespoon of olive oil and a splash of white wine or vegetable stock in its place. The compound butter here will make way more than you need for 2 servings, but you can freeze it and use a scoop or a slice to jazz up any protein or vegetable for weeks and weeks.

Serves 2, and scales to serve as many as you need!