"Villa Rosa" Salmon with Vegetables and Couscous

When I lived in Hannover Germany, my host mom Cordula taught me that food should always be beautiful and colorful, so when making this dish I was reminded of the villa that I lived in which was built in 1835 by architect, Georg Ludwig Friedrich Laves, a rather well known architect of his time who was in a sense  the Friedrich Shinkel of Hannover.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georg_Ludwig_Friedrich_Laves

Ingredients:

• a fresh wild salmon fillet
• olive oil
• a few pinches of tarragon
• 1/2 pound of red creamer potatoes, cut in half
• a dash of rosemary and thyme 
• an assortment of colorful vegetables, broccoli, corn, garbanzo beans, peas, and red onion, asparagus is great addition as well
• 2 cups couscous
• 1 tablespoon of butter
• salt and pepper to taste

How to make it,

1. Cut potatoes in half and put on a metal baking pan, drizzle a bit of olive oil on top and season with a dash of rosemary and thyme, salt and pepper.
2. Bake in a 425 degree oven for 35 minutes, then set aside.
3. In the meantime, in a skillet add vegetables to a bit of olive oil and cook on medium heat until the color becomes more vibrant about 6 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
4. Put salmon onto aluminum foil, drizzle a bit of olive oil on the fillet and season with a dash of tarragon.
5. Fold up the edges and bake into the oven next to the potatoes for 15-20 minutes.
6. In a small pot bring 2 cups of water to a boil with 1 tablespoon of butter.
7. Then remove from heat, the add 2 cups of couscous and cover the pot, then let stand for 5 minutes.
8. Create layers on the plate, first the couscous in a large circle, then the vegetables and potatoes, then the salmon on top.

as we say in Hannover, Guten Appetit!

An alternative and more casual way to make this dish is to mash all the ingredients together, which I call a "mash up" which is great for food on the go or at a picnic on the beach.