During my recent trip to Seattle, I had a fantastic Cedar Plank Roasted Wild King Salmon at SeaStar in Bellevue. Absolutely had to create this at home, so I armed myself with a new cedar plank for roasting from Plank Cooking, John Howie’s Passion & Palate cookbook (chef/owner of SeaStar) and several rubs. I’ve tried this a couple of times and found I like Tom Douglas’ Salmon Rub with Love the best. Tom’s rub has a good amount of brown sugar, which caramelizes on the salmon during roasting and imparts a very subtle sweet hint to the fish.

I also use Faroe Island Salmon in this recipe instead of Wild King, as it’s in season. I get all of my fish and seafood from Clean Catch. They have the freshest fish in Charlotte, and work hard to provide their customers with the best sustainable, wild and free range fish available. The Faroe Islands are a small, remote group of islands in the Atlantic between Norway and Sweden. Fish represents more than 96% of their total export, and they are committed to sustainability. Their salmon thrive in strong, fresh currents in pristine waters with a steady sea temperature. Many praise this salmon as the highest quality Atlantic salmon.

Here’s my take on this delicious dish.

1 lb Faroe Island Salmon, thick cut
Tom Douglas’ Salmon Rub with Love (or rub of your choice), two tablespoons for a pound of salmon
1 lb button mushrooms, halved
1/2 Vidalia onion, wide slices
1/2 lb baby carrots, chopped in large chunks
1 lb Dutch Yellow baby potatoes, halved
Freshly Ground Pepper and Salt
Olive Oil

A day before, work the rub into the salmon and put it back into the refrigerator.

Prepare your plank; if it’s new, you should lightly brush it with olive oil. Heat the oven to 400 deg and move one of the racks to the second from the top position in your oven.

Chop the vegetables and add them to a bowl big enough to mix them easily. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil over the vegetables, and grind pepper and salt to taste. I also grind over a Thyme/Lemon spice mix I got at Trader Joe’s for an extra kick. Stir the vegetables to coat them with the olive oil and spices.

Place your salmon on the plank, and surround it with the vegetables.

Roast the salmon for 25-30 minutes, until it is done to your liking. Plank cooking takes a bit more time than regular roasting. Check the salmon 20 minutes in to make sure it’s to your taste. Enjoy!