Baking is one of the easiest ways to cook salmon. It’s not complicated, and you don’t need to do much to make it delicious. Dress the fish with sauce, seasonings, or even just lemon juice, then pop it in the oven for a quarter of an hour and you have the basis of a fantastic meal.

This recipe has been in my cookbook from nearly the beginning, clipped from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution sometime in the very early ’90s. I taped the recipe to the page next to a full-page clipping of six ways to serve lemon garnishes.

You need only a handful of ingredients for this. I served the salmon alongside jasmine rice and a side salad with a sesame-soy sauce dressing. Fresh minced cilantro makes a nice garnish, if you have some.

Serves 4

3 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 Tbsp. honey
1 Tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger
1 tsp. soy sauce
20 oz. salmon fillets
1/8 tsp. salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat oven to 450F/230C degrees.

In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice, honey, ginger, and soy sauce.

Place the salmon on a foil-lined baking pan and spread half the honey mixture on top. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake 12 minutes per inch of thickness. Halfway through the cooking time, spread with the remaining honey mixture.