salmon fillets baked over sliced fennel bulb and shallot with citrus segments

AIP dinners can start to blur together after enough weeks of chicken, then fish, then more chicken. This one tastes different for no extra effort and is worth keeping on hand. It is mostly knife work, slicing fennel and citrus, and it comes out genuinely bright, worth having on a Tuesday when the usual rotation has gone stale.

Fennel bulb is a source of fiber, and it turns soft and faintly sweet under the fish as it bakes, nothing like its raw anise bite. The citrus segments tucked around the salmon hold real vitamin C, useful for tissue repair, work that does not pause just because you are also managing an Autoimmune condition.

Slice the fennel thin and actually watch what you are doing while you do it, the white curl of it, the fronds set aside for later. There is nothing complicated about this dinner, and on a night when complicated is the last thing you can manage, that is exactly the point.

Ingredients

• 2 salmon fillets, 8 oz each
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2-4 oranges or other citrus, depending on size, peeled and cut into segments
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 bulb fennel, thinly sliced, fronds reserved for garnish (fennel bulb is the vegetable and is AIP-compliant; only fennel seed is excluded, and none is used here)
• 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or apple cider vinegar); both are AIP-compliant, so no swap was needed

Method

Heat the oven to 400 F. Lightly oil a baking dish or sheet pan large enough to hold both fillets without crowding.

Spread the thinly sliced fennel and shallot across the bottom of the dish in an even layer; this becomes the bed that flavors the fish and softens as it bakes. Drizzle the vinegar over the vegetables so it can soak in.

Lay the salmon fillets on top of the fennel and shallot. Brush or drizzle the salmon with the olive oil and sprinkle with the salt. Tuck the citrus segments around and over the fillets so their juice bastes the fish as it cooks.

Bake until the salmon turns opaque and flakes easily with a fork, roughly 15 to 20 minutes depending on thickness; it is done at an internal temperature of about 145 F. Lift the fillets and fennel onto plates, spoon the citrus and any pan juices over the top, and finish with the reserved fennel fronds. Serve warm.

Air fryer variation

For one fillet, lay a small handful of the sliced fennel and shallot in the air fryer basket, set the seasoned salmon on top with a few citrus segments, and cook at about 380 F for 9 to 12 minutes, until the salmon flakes and reaches roughly 145 F. The fennel will be firmer than the oven version since it has less time to soften. This time and temperature are untested estimates, so check the fish for doneness rather than going by the clock.

*Adapted from autoimmunewellness.com*