Foil Baked Mustard Maple Bacon Salmon

Tender flaky salmon wrapped in bacon and glazed with a garlic maple mustard sauce, this baked salmon recipe is sensational! You have to try it!

My friend Megan swears by her dad’s salmon and bacon. I only like salmon when it’s got enough flavor to mask the fact that it’s actually fish. Bacon to the rescue! Everything is better with bacon!

My friend Janet makes a good one, and I love a few of our own recipes like our Salmon Bowls and Asian Sticky Salmon, but when Megan said there was bacon in her dad’s recipe, I was so intrigued!

If you have been an OSB follower for long, you will know that I am not a seafood person. It’s just not my thing. Even salmon…I have been trying to love salmon for years, and I have to say that this baked maple mustard salmon has won me over!

Recommended Equipment

• Baking Sheet
• Whisk

Before You Begin…

Grab four sheets of foil that are big enough to wrap each of your fillets in and lay 2 slices of bacon vertically on each piece of foil.

How to Pick Good Fresh Salmon

Buying salmon at the grocery store can be intimidating, but it doesn’t need to be! There are a few things to look for…

• Smell – good fresh salmon should not have a fishy smell
• Color – vibrant, deep shades of red/coral/pink is what you are after and there shouldn’t be any brown spots anywhere on the fillet
• Appearance – it should look moist and not dried out
• Touch – when you gently press the salmon, it should bounce back and not leave an indentation

What Do I Need to Make This Baked Salmon Recipe?

All the ingredients are easy to find and create the most amazing flavor. Here is what you will need:

• Salmon Fillets
• Lemon
• Kosher Salt
• Pepper
• Olive Oil Mayonnaise
• Maple Syrup: Grade A
• Garlic
• Dijon Mustard
• Yellow Onion
• Bacon
• Thyme: or parsley

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card. You can also print and save the recipe there.

How to Make Baked Maple Salmon

1. Prep: Preheat the oven, get foil pieces ready and place the bacon on each piece of foil. Season the salmon fillets.
2. Sauce: Whisk all the ingredients of the sauce together and pour the sauce on each fillet.
3. Assemble: Top the fillets with the onions and wrap the bacon around the fillets. Fold the foil around each piece of salmon.
4. Bake: Place the sheet pan in the oven and bake, then open the foil and change the oven to broil to crisp up the top for about a minute.
5. Season: Sprinkle each fillet with fresh herbs and serve!

The complete instructions for making this recipe can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post. Keep scrolling for all the details.

Creamy, chewy oats, bananas, and pecans are topped with a generous drizzle of maple syrup to make this warm and filling Banana Nut Oatmeal. Less than 10 minutes of effort is required to put this hot breakfast on the table.

Oatmeal with Bananas

I love making oatmeal for breakfast. The fillings and toppings are endless and the different variations keep it interesting.

Different variations of banana oatmeal tend to be my go-to addition to stovetop oatmeal recipes. We pretty much always have a basket of bananas on the counter and everyone enjoys them.

My two youngest boys are always happiest with a bowl of oatmeal first thing in the morning.

Maple Oatmeal

While you can sweeten oatmeal in any number of different ways, I’ve found that a small amount of maple syrup provides a lot of flavor and sweetness.

Depending on the oatmeal add-ins, some fruits will provide all the sweetness I want, but when the oatmeal needs just a little something more, I reach for the maple syrup.

When I have it on hand a dollop of whipped cream is a big treat for the kids and it gives the illusion of eating dessert for breakfast. (That is a win with everyone!)

Sautéed Green Beans and Cherry Tomatoes

Harvest the last of your green beans and cherry tomatoes and make this quick and simple side dish that is both healthy and appetizing!

I literally make this dish every month all year long. Snapping beans and the “thunk” of each pod hitting the bottom of a large, white bucket is burned into my childhood memory . We’d busily snap beans for my mom to can during the summer in Washington and then enjoy them all year long.

Nowadays I’ve leaned away from canning a bit and instead savor those summery flavors every month but keeping two basic ingredients in hand, just cherry tomatoes and green beans. So simple and budget friendly!

Recommended Equipment

• Wusthof Knives
• Tongs

Before You Begin…

You’ll want to get started by washing and trimming your green beans and giving them a quick blanch. See section below for how to blanch green beans.

What Do I Need for Sautéed Green Beans and Tomatoes?

You only need a few simple ingredients to make this tasty vegetable side dish.

• Green Beans: fresh is best, either from the garden or grocery store
• Kosher Salt: adds flavor to the water that you boil the green beans in
• Water: used to boil the green beans
• Olive Oil: helps sauté the shallots and vegetables
• Shallot: adds a mild onion flavor
• Garlic: adds flavor
• Cherry Tomatoes: different varieties are best, grape tomatoes also work great
• Salt and Pepper: adds flavor
• Lemon: adds a bright citrusy flavor
• Fresh Herbs: You can use any combination you want. We like to use herbs such as thyme, parsley, dill or oregano.
• Feta: or cotija works too…and the cheese is totally optional

The measurements for each ingredient can be found in the recipe card at the end of the post.

How to Blanch Green Beans So They Actually Stay Crisp

Blanching is the process of cooking a fruit or vegetable by quickly scalding them in boiling water then moving them to an ice bath to stop the cooking process. For this recipe, you will only leave the green beans in the boiling water for 2-3 minutes. This is just enough time to cook the green beans until tender but still crisp.

If you let them go much longer, they will start to get soggy and lose their bright green color. By transferring the cooked green beans to a bowl of ice water, they stop cooking and stay crisp for the next step of the recipe.

Do You Have to Trim Green Beans?

You should remove the top end of the green bean. This is the end that was once connected to the plant. It can be quite hard and chewy, so you wouldn’t want to eat it. Some people like to also remove t

Easiest Apple Butter Recipe (Homemade From Scratch)

This recipe is so simple – it’s the easiest apple butter recipe from scratch. I use all fresh ingredients, and I promise you it tastes just as good as the apple butter you grew up with.

I grew up on pretty much 100% home-canned applesauce, which is amazing as my mom actually hates cooked apples. She did it for us and I’ve loved it ever since. But apple butter, now that’s the next level!! I use it on toast, cooked with pork or chicken, in quick breads and cakes, etc!

All you need is 6 simple ingredients, and this apple butter sauce is yours! Fill your home and belly with the smells and flavors of fall!

Recommended Equipment

• Blendtec Immersion Blender (use coupon code OHSWEETBASIL20 for a 20% off discount!)
• Apple Peeler or Swivel Peeler

Before You Begin

Prepare all the apples by removing the cores, peeling them, and slicing them into bitesize pieces.

What is Apple Butter?

Though it contains no butter, apple butter is a similar consistency of butter. Apple butter is super concentrated sweetened apples that have been pureed to a smooth spreadable sauce. You can think of it as an apple jam. It has intense delicious apple flavor.

Apple Butter Ingredients

Here are the 6 (possibly 7) ingredients you need to make apple butter from scratch:

• Apples: You’ll need about 16 apples depending on the size of the apples to get 6 lbs of apples. Weigh the apples first and then core, peel and cut them.
  • TIP: You’ll need at least a 6 quart slow cooker to hold all these apples.
• Dark Brown Sugar: You can use light brown sugar too, I just love the richness the dark brown sugar adds.
• Sugar: just regular granulated sugar, helps apples caramelize
• Cinnamon: an absolute must for apple recipes and all things fall
• Ground Cloves: adds an extra bit of warmth and flavor
• Salt: cuts through all the sweetness and enhances all the flavors
• Vanilla: this is optional but does add delicious flavor

This is just an overview of the ingredients used in this recipe. The measurements for all the ingredients can be found in the recipe card down at the end of the post.

How to Make Apple Butter in a Slow Cooker

It doesn’t get easier than making this apple butter recipe in the slow cooker! Here is an overview of the steps:

1. Combine the white sugar and spices/seasonings in a small bowl and stir to combine.
2. Add the prepared apples to the sl

Welcome to the weekend, my friends! My friend Lynne was here this week working in the kitchen and photographing recipes with me and as a result, today I’m dreaming of Thanksgiving dinner and all of the side dishes we’ll be making. 

Do you have a non-traditional favorite holiday dish? I’d love to hear about it! Leave a comment on this blog post telling me about it.

ON THE BLOGS this week: This Homemade Shrimp Ramen is a quick and satisfying twist on the classic Japanese dish. With simple ingredients and minimal prep, this easy recipe offers a flavorful shortcut to a delicious bowl of noodles, succulent shrimp, and aromatic broth.

Chunks of savory, smoky ham are added to perfectly seasoned, gooey, melted cheese. Mac and Cheese with Ham is a dinner you’ll make more than once.

Juicy, raw corn kernels are tossed with crisp bell peppers and tangy tomatoes in a light dressing to create this zesty Fresh Corn Salad.

Tender potatoes mingle with crisp fresh vegetables in a creamy, herb dressing to take this Loaded Vegetable Potato Salad over the top.

Ripe, juicy tomatoes dance with garlic and fresh herbs, all tossed together a zesty lemon dressing in this irresistible Fresh Tomato Pasta.

Puff Pastry Baklava Bites are delightful, bite-sized treats that offer a modern twist on the traditional Greek dessert, baklava. These miniature pastries are made by filling buttery, flaky puff pastry cups with a sweet honey and nut filling.

Filled with slightly chewy pieces of black walnuts, this sweet and fragrant Black Walnut Ice Cream is a decadent treat.

The sweet, juicy burst of blueberries complements the subtle tang of buttermilk in this delightfully moist and tender Blueberry Buttermilk Cake.

My FAVORITE THINGS this week are these tweezers. Once again, these tweezers came to the rescue this week. Splinter removal has never been easier.

What I’m WATCHING: Book Club: The Next Chapter. This movie caught my eye a while back and I finally watched it this week. Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, and Mary Steenburgen were perfect in their roles. Wh