Herb Crusted Salmon for Toddlers and Adults

I was thinking when shopping today how people would happily feed a toddler fish fingers but would consider this kind of dish to be too 'adult' for them.  Apart from the herbs, what's the difference?  The joy with this is not only is it really easy to make but also it's freshly made and free from anything artificial.

Herb Crusted Salmon - serves 2 adults, my son had an adult portion which he ate half of, you could always split one adult portion between two children

Ingredients

1 slice of bread, I used a slow fermented sponge and dough bread but I like good bread and I'm lucky enough to work in a bakery!
Herbs of your choice (I used oregano, thyme and rosemary as all of my other herbs have been eaten by slugs, parsley, garlic chives and lemon thyme would have been good.)
1/4 tsp Paprika
1 tbsp Olive oil
2 salmon fillets (mine weighed 140g each)

Method

Preheat an oven to 200oC / 400F

Use a food processor to process the bread into crumbs.  Chop up the herbs and add them into the crumbs with the paprika, mix then add in the oil.

Put half of the crumbs onto each salmon fillet.

Bake for approx 14-16 mins until cooked through to your liking (I'd go for 14 mins for me and 16 mins for my son as I like it only just done.)  If you buy a pack of salmon in a UK supermarket, I guarantee the cooking instructions will be to cook it much longer so it's drier than a flip-flop.  Probably sensible if serving to a baby to make sure it's super well cooked but for older kids and adults, it doesn't need to be nuked within an inch of it's life.

My son liked this, if anything, he was more keen on the salmon than the breadcrumbs but I'm thinking for kids who aren't used to having salmon in it's more natural form, it might be a gentle introduction.  If you don't fancy cooking a portion for your kids at risk of it being rejected, it's a tasty meal for you anyway.  Why not cook some for yourself and offer your kids a taste?  It's a fact that food off someone else's plate always tastes three times tastier (possibly not scientifically proven.)

So does it matter whether kids like fish or not?  Well in my opinion, yes it does.  Fish is one of the best natural sources of Omega 3 essential fatty acids and it's a great source of protein.  Salmon is quite often one of the most accepted oily fishes too so it's a great place to start and that is surely what cooking for young kids is all about, introducing the idea of having something a bit different.  Even if it's rejected, does that matter?  No, because next time it's offered, it won't be so strange.