The timings given here are assuming 2 rather thick, medium-large salmon filets. You don’t want to overcook the fish, so be conservative. If you’re making less, or working with thin filets, 3 to 3.5 minutes of total cooking time may be all you need.

Step 1

• Cover the bottom of a shallow 9-inch square microwave-safe baking dish with 1 T olive oil, 1 T lemon juice
• Arrange a layer of sliced/chunked tomatoes, covered liberally with basil
• Season with salt and pepper (and possibly garlic) to taste
• If the salmon has skin, arrange it in the dish with the bare skin up; otherwise cover the salmon with some of the basil-tomato-lemon-oil mixture
• Cover dish with lid or plastic film
• Microwave for 2.5 minutes on high

Step 2

If the salmon has skin:

• Take dish out and remove the skin from the salmon
• Turn the salmon upside down and use a spoon to pull up some (not all) of the basil-tomato-lemon-oil-etc. mixture to cover the salmon (it doesn’t matter if the salmon skin has scales, but if it does, remove the skin and scales before turning the fish over; you don’t want the scales to get into the sauce in the bottom of the dish)
• Recover with the lid or plastic wrap

In all cases:

• Check on doneness, and cook until just done all the way through; perhaps another 2 minutes (or 3 minutes for thick filets)
• Let sit for 2-3 minutes before uncovering

Step 3

• Serve with/on spaghetti or rice
• Garnish as desired with fresh basil leaves (“Italian direction”) or with spicy chili sauce (“Asian direction”)

Variant

For the Asian direction, it’s possible to keep the scale-less skin on and then after the initial 2.5 minutes in the microwave, put it under the broiler to crisp up the skin. (Could bake in oven, I suppose, using foil to cover, but I haven’t done that and so have no clue how long it would take.)

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