Baking fresh salmon with a colourful and tasty array of roasted vegetables makes a perfect meal. Grill the potatoes, sweet potatoes and eggplant to soften them and start the cooking process. When tossed with the capsicum, zucchini and sweet Spanish onion and baked in a hot oven the potatoes become golden and crisp and the other vegetables caramelise and bring out all their wonderful flavours. Making some homemade balsamic glaze to brush over the fresh salmon adds a touch of sweetness too.

Tuscan Roasted Vegetables and Salmon

Ingredients:

• 4 fresh salmon fillets, skin removed
• 2 large Desiree Potatoes
• 1 medium red sweet potato
• 1 large red capsicum
• 2 small zucchini
• 1 Spanish onion
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 small eggplant
• Extra Virgin olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• Italian herb seasoning

Homemade Balsamic Glaze:

• 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
• 1Tblsp brown sugar
• Pinch of salt

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 200º C F
2. Prepare the homemade balsamic glaze by placing the Balsamic vinegar and brown sugar into a small saucepan over a medium low heat
3. Stir them together and simmer till the sauce is reduced by half and coats the back of a spoon.
4. Stir through a good pinch of salt and then cover and set aside
5. Drizzle olive oil over the base of a large baking tray
6. Wash the zucchini and cut into thick rounds
7. Wash the capsicum and remove the inner seeds and cut the flesh into 2.5cm pieces
8. Peel and cut the Spanish onion in half lengthwise and then cut each half into quarters
9. Place the zucchini, capsicum, onion and chopped garlic into the baking dish
10. Peel the potatoes and cut into 1 cm thick slices
11. Grill the slices ( I have used a Foreman Grill) for 10-12 minutes
12. Wash the eggplant, remove the ends and cut into 1 cm slices widthwise
13. Peel the sweet potato and cut into thin slices lengthwise
14. Grill the eggplant for 6 minutes then cut the slices into quarters
15. Grill the sweet potato slices for 6 minutes then cut half of them into pieces and set aside the rest of the slices
16. Add the potatoes, eggplant and sweet potato to the tray with the rest of the vegetables
17. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper
18. Sprinkle with the finely chopped rosemary and your favourite Italian herb mix
19. Drizzle over with olive oil and toss well so that all the vegetables are well coated in the oil
20. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked and golden and the other vegetables have softend
21. Pat the salmon fillets dry with kitchen paper and place over the baked vegetables. Then brush them with the homemade balsamic glaze
22. Return the vegetables and salmon to the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until the salmon is perfectly cooked
23. Cut wedges of Turkish Bread and brush them with olive oil. Sprinkle with sea salt flakes and Nigella seeds and baked the bread in a hot oven for 8 minutes till crisp
24. Serve the Tuscan vegetables and salmon with the warmed reserved sweet potato slices and the wedges of crisp Turkish bread
25. You may like to add a small bowl of Extra Virgin olive oil with some balsamic vinegar to serve with the bread
26.