Since we got married last May, I have realized that a huge factor in what Hunter and I eat is time. I love cooking for both of us, but when I’m picking a recipe, I’m not typically thinking about flavor profiles or even a balanced diet.

Most of that is because I am busy with other things like work, or cleaning, or writing, or reading or just spending time with my husband. But sometimes, I am not really busy at all. I am just going for efficiency.

So this week, I decided to challenge myself. Could I make a meal, from grocery store to plating, with only an hour of active preparation time?

That’s when I found a salmon recipe by Lena Abraham from Delish, with honey, lemon, garlic and red pepper flakes, for a tiny bit of a kick. Preparation time: 5 minutes. Total time: 20 minutes. It seemed like it may be a winner.

I adapted the recipe, sizing down for the two of us, and placed a grocery pick-up order for right after work. I threw in some rice and asparagus into the pick-up order, as well, just to make sure we had a more well-rounded plate.

Grocery pick-up orders are a huge way I optimize time in the kitchen, especially in the fall. When every Starkville grocery store is filled with Mississippi State University students who are new in town and lost in the stores, I prefer to avoid the beast entirely. In fact, with how much faster it was to get my salmon ingredients through pick-up, I may not step foot in a grocery store again until the semester ends.

With about 10 minutes of online shopping in advance, my 5 minute drive to the grocery store, my 15 minute wait for my groceries and then my 5 minute drive home, I was taking that 20 minute cook time on the recipe seriously. I would be cutting it close to make everything in under an hour.

On Sunday night, I got to work. First, I started my rice in the pressure cooker by setting a timer for 12 minutes. Then, I started prepping my asparagus and salmon simultaneously. These would both cook on the stovetop in pans side-by-side.

The salmon cooked faster than I expected, forming a perfect golden shell on the outside while still remaining flaky on the inside. The asparagus took slightly longer, but with the addition of a splash of water and a lid to the pan, the steam helped it to get tender as quickly as the salmon. I had both on plates before the pressure cooker was done.

Total, from grocery store to table, this recipe took me 47 minutes. 49 minutes, if you count the time I took to take photos. When Hunter and I sat down to dinner, everything was hot at exactly the same time, and for all intents and purposes, looked just as good as any other meal I have made for him.

When I asked him what he thought about the food, he didn’t mention the speed at all. Instead, he just complimented the cook on the fish and the unique flavor profile. It was a complete success. Which means, from now on, this recipe is staying in my back pocket if I’m ever in a rush.

HONEY LEMON GLAZED SALMON

Ingredients
1/3 cup honey
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
2 6-ounce salmon filets, patted dry with a paper towel
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 lemons, sliced into rounds
1/4 cup water (if needed)

Directions
■ In a medium bowl, whisk together honey, soy sauce, lemon juice and red pepper flakes until well combined. Honey tends to stick to the bottom of the bowl.
■ In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat two tablespoons of oil. When oil is shimmering but not smoking, add salmon skin-side up and season with salt and pepper. Cook salmon until deeply golden, about 6 minutes, then flip over and add remaining tablespoon of oil, and more salt and pepper to taste.
■ Add garlic to the skillet and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the honey/soy sauce mixture and sliced lemons and cook until sauce is reduced by about 1/3. Baste salmon with the sauce.
■ Move salmon and sauce to plate immediately, or sauce may congeal in the pan and need water added to thin back out. Garnish with sliced lemon and serve.

Serves 2