Salmon en Papillote

I heart (haha, get it) this dish for many reasons. First of all it is sooo healthy. Second, it is very simple but a really special presentation.

I was inspired to make it because, not one, but two chefs on the Food Network were making it this past Saturday (Tyler Florence and the Secrets of a Restaurant chef girl that looks like Guy Fieri). I made it before in a Viking class a couple of years ago and only made it once since then. Since I bought parchment paper this time, I think I will be making it more often.

The recipe I came up with was inspired by the salmon Tyler Florence put in his, the vegetables and shot of wine Guy girl put in hers, and the orzo I remember using in the Viking class.

The great thing about it is that you can choose what you have on hand to put in it.

Ingredients:

2 salmon filets
1 carrot (julienned)
1 red pepper (julienned)
4 scallions (cut crosswise into inch pieces)
1 lemon
olive oil
1/4 cup of dry white wine
1 cup orzo
2 cups chicken stock
salt
pepper
parchment paper

-Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

- Boil the chicken stock and cook the orzo until not quite al dente (only for about 3 minutes)

- Cut 2 heart shapes out of the parchment paper (this would be great for a Valentines dinner!):



- Let the orzo cool a bit (otherwise your paper becomes too wet to work with)

- Place the orzo down on one side of the heart first, add the salmon filet next.

- Season the salmon with salt and pepper

- Layer the lemon slices on top of the salmon



- Then add the julienned veggies, drizzle on some olive oil (you could omit this if you wanted to go really healthy) and season with a bit more salt and pepper.



- Fold over the other side of the heart and begin closing up the paper by folding over the sides. You want to make sure and get this folded very tightly so everything steams.

- At the very end, leave a little opening to pour in just a tiny shot of wine (don't pour too much or the taste will overpower everything).

- Finish folding and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes, until the salmon is cooked to 145 degrees.