Recipe: "Dinner party" salmon with mustard, tarragon and wheat germ

• 

Some old friends came over to dinner tonight with their kids, and only as I was serving did I realize that, inadvertently, I had made an entirely orange dinner. I can't show you the whole thing because my photos of the plates came out too blurry, but let me summarize:

• "Dinner party salmon" (recipe follows)
• Sweet-potato latkes
• Roasted orange cauliflower
• Roasted cubed butternut squash
• Homemade macaroni and cheese (for the veggie 10-year-old)

Hmm. I mean, beta carotene is great and all that, but would it have killed me to put a little green on the plate? Silly cook. It tasted great, though.

This salmon dish is one of my party standbys. It can be prepped and refrigerated hours in advance and takes only 15 minutes to bake.

Dinner party salmon

• 8 two-inch-wide salmon fillets (or a whole side of salmon in one piece)
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 2 Tbsp lemon zest
• juice of one small lemon
• 2 Tbsp dried tarragon (or fresh, if you have it)
• 1/4 cup plain wheat germ
• salt and pepper

Place the salmon on a baking sheet lined with foil. Salt and pepper the fillets.

Mix together mustard, mayonnaise, lemon zest, lemon juice and tarragon. Spread mixture liberally on all sides of salmon. Sprinkle wheat germ on top and press into fish; this will act as a crust when the fish bakes.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes. If you have a convection setting, use that for 10 minutes instead, and the wheat germ will crisp up a little. It's nice either way.

Leftovers, if you have them, make an excellent salmon salad.

Serves 8ish.