Before all the candy, celebrate Halloween with this festive dish

This colorful fall dinner is also perfect for Halloween. Salmon fillets are baked and topped with a black olive and shallot sauce. It’s served with black beans and orange carrots. Shallots are part of the onion family. They are small and teardrop-shaped and are milder than onions.

The trick to cooking this salmon in the oven is to make sure the oven is at temperature before adding the salmon.

To save time, the shallots and olives can be chopped and mixed with the oil and vinegar dressing in the food processor. Remove the sauce and set aside. Do not wash the bowl and add a slicing disk to the processor. Slice the carrots for the side dish.

• Helpful Hints:

Any type of vinaigrette dressing can be used.

Red onion can be used instead of shallots for the salmon sauce.

Roasted Salmon With Black Olive-Shallot Vinaigrette

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

3/4 pound salmon fillet

Olive oil spray

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

8 pitted black olives, coarsely chopped

1/2 medium-size shallot, finely chopped (about 2 teaspoons)

3 tablespoons low-fat oil and vinegar dressing

Pre-heat oven to 350. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil spray. Place salmon on the foil and spray with olive oil spray. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Place salmon in oven and bake 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix olives and shallots with the dressing. Set the vinaigrette aside at room temperature while salmon is baking. Spoon the vinaigrette over the salmon while it is still warm.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 296 calories (49% from fat), 16.3 g fat (2.2 g saturated, 6.8 g monounsaturated), 98 mg cholesterol, 34.1 g protein, 3.1 g carbohydrates, 0.4 g fiber, 206 mg sodium.

Festive Black Beans

Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer

1 cup sliced carrots

2 cups water

1 1/2 cups canned reduced-sodium black beans, rinsed and drained

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Add carrots and water to a saucepan and bring to a boil. Cook 3 minutes. Add the beans and cook 2 to 3 more minutes. The carrots should be cooked and the beans warm. Drain leaving about 2 tablespoons water on the beans and add the olive oil, cumin and salt and pepper to taste.

Yield 2 servings.

Per serving: 195 calories (7% from fat), 1.5 g fat (0.3 g saturated, 0.5 g monounsaturated), no cholesterol, 11.5 g protein, 35.5 g carbohydrates, 14.1 g fiber, 189 mg sodium.