Salmon Steaks with Parsnips and Ginger

Monday January 14

This was inspired by a recipe for ginger-roasted parsnips in next month's Food & Wine (ah, the paradoxes of time travel). Essentially, we just put a Tbsp. of olive oil in our covered pyrex pan; added 8 small parsnips cut into batons and about a Tbsp. of minced fresh ginger, plus salt and pepper to taste; and tossed it about a bit so they were coated. Then we plopped two small salmon steaks in the center of the pan, inserting the temperature probe into one of them; covered the pan; and put it in a 325-degree oven.

We removed the salmon to the warm toaster oven when its temperature reached 125 degrees. The parsnips took more time than the 40 minutes the recipe said, even though we'd cut them up smaller than recommended. They were good, but next time I'd turn the temperature up higher and roast them open, for a shorter period of time. That caramelizes them, whereas roasting them in a pan just steams them.