The Atlanta-Inspired Meal Simone Biles Loves Cooking At Home

When Olympian Simone Biles is not racking up gold medals or silencing trolls online, she's enjoying home-cooked meals. One of Biles' favorite meals to cook is an Atlanta-inspired dish — lemon pepper salmon with rice and veggies, as she told Bustle. Bright and zesty, lemon pepper flavors proteins like chicken and salmon beautifully. 

Just take our easy air fryer lemon pepper wings recipe, for example. Thanks to lemon juice, zest, and black peppercorns, these wings are bright with flavors that complement each other. You can thank Atlanta for the creation of lemon pepper wings. You could even say that lemon pepper is a signature flavor of Atlanta. As for how Biles likes to enjoy her lemon pepper wings, she once stated on X that "wet lemon pepper wings are superior."

While it's no secret that lemon pepper is the perfect seasoning for wings, it works well with salmon and other seafood dishes, too. Lemon's bright and refreshing qualities help balance out the salmon's rich, briny flavor. Peppercorn adds a bit of spice and heat, further masking any "fishy" flavors.

Ready to cook an Atlanta-inspired meal at home fit for an Olympic champion? You can easily find lemon pepper seasoning in the supermarket in the spice and seasoning aisle. Or you can try making some at home. The next time you use lemons for a recipe, be sure to save your lemon peels to make a robust homemade seasoning. To make lemon pepper seasoning, dry the lemon peels, then pulse them in a food processor along with black peppercorns until fine granules form. You can also grind small pieces of dried lemon peels and peppercorns in a pepper grinder.

Pick out a salmon recipe, like any of our 21 salmon recipes for any meal, and season the salmon with your fresh lemon pepper seasoning. Rub the lemon pepper into the fish, including the silvery skin. Cook the zesty, lemony salmon to perfection — there are many ways to cook delicious salmon including pan-searing and roasting. Then, be sure to make a salad, as Biles does, to accompany the lemon pepper salmon dish. Finally, to celebrate like an Olympian, pour a glass of pinot noir, as that is the absolute best type of wine to pair with salmon.