Quick Miso-Glazed Salmon

On any given day, there are about a zillion things that can derail family dinner -- where do we begin? -- and I've probably heard about every one of those things from you guys these past few years. How do I deal with the fussy toddler? The spouse who won't help? My coworker who makes me feel bad about leaving the office before him? The relentlessness of after-school activities and all the schlepping it entails? This last one always stumped me. It seemed of all the obstacles one could face, this one was something we could control instead of complain about. What I didn't know until fairly recently, though, was how broadly defined the term "after-school" has become. We just got the soccer schedule for the spring and one of my daughters has a practice that ends at 7:30, at a field that's a 20-minute drive away. That's a dinner deal-breaker if there ever was one. Well, unless you have this recipe in the repertoire. Cause you can have this on the table in the time it takes for your midfielder to walk in the door, change out of her jersey, get washed up, and return to the table where she belongs.

Simple Miso-Glazed Salmon

A big reason why I could get this on the table so fast was because I had a stash of the glaze in the fridge already. Making the glaze definitely qualifies as the kind of task your bright-eyed morning self can do ahead of time -- it takes only a minute or two if you have all the ingredients on hand. Your beaten-down evening self will thank you later.

1 1/3 pound salmon

2 tablespoons white miso*

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon mirin

1 tablespoon brown sugar

squeeze of lime

In a small bowl, mix together everything but the lime. Slather the miso glaze on salmon and broil for 10-12 minutes until it gets golden on top. (Watch it carefully. The sugar in the glaze will burn.) Serve with lime wedges.

While the salmon was broiling, I briefly sauteed some snap peas in a drop of sesame oil, then tossed them with a sliced radish, sea salt, a squeeze of lime, and chives. (Scallions would be better than chives, but I didn't have any on hand.)

*You can buy white miso at Asian specialty stores or better supermarkets like Whole Foods. It keeps in the fridge for ages.