Zingy salmon with rainbow salad & roasted sweet potato

/ Naturally Nutrition/
Salmon, salad and sweet potato

This quick, easy meal is a packed full of healthy nutrients and is great feel-good summer food – just what was needed on the wettest day of the month!  Read on and I’ll tell you how I did it...

Ingredients for 2

The protein:

  • 2 Alaskan wild salmon fillets

 

The zingy topping:

  • 1 garlic clove chopped
  • 20g fresh coriander finely chopped
  • 15g fresh ginger finely chopped (peel the skin off with a teaspoon)
  • 1 spring onion finely chopped
  • ½ lime juice
  • ½ teaspoon of salt
  • 2-4 tablespoons of olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon of brown sugar

Healthy carbs:

  • 450g of sweet potato washed, pierced and roasted in the oven in 45 minutes at 180°C
  • Sour cream (if you are not intolerant to dairy)

Speedy salad:

  • Half a bag of young spinach (about 100g) washed
  • 2 celery sticks, sliced
  • 3 medium tomatoes chopped into quarters then sliced
  • Half a cucumber, chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper, sliced
  • 2 radishes, finely sliced
  • 2 carrots, grated
  • 1 little gem lettuce torn into chunks

For the dressing:

  • 3 tablespoons of olive oil (find an oil that you like the taste of, always buy oils in a dark bottle)
  • 1.5 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar
  • 2 medium garlic cloves (crushed)
  • Salt
  • Ground pepper
  • Squeeze of lemon or lime juice

The finishing touch from my herb garden (optional):

  • Sprig of Vietnamese coriander
  • Fresh chives

How to make it...

Start with the sweet potato before the fish as it takes the longest time to cook. No need to peel it, just wash thoroughly, pierce and moisten before putting onto a roasting tray.

Whilst the sweet potato is getting nice and toasty, start preparing your fish and its sauce. Use a food processor or pestle and mortar to crush the garlic, coriander, ginger, spring onion, salt, olive oil, brown sugar and couple of tablespoons of water to form a chunky paste. This is your fish topping.

Next, drizzle the salmon with olive oil and wrap loosely in foil, then place into the oven 25 minutes before the sweet potatoes are ready.  After about 15 minutes, spread the fish topping over the salmon and return to the oven with the foil off for the final 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine the salad ingredients in a large bowl after washing thoroughly. The easy thing on salads is that you can become as daring and adventurous as you want. Be experimental and use seeds, use goji berries, crushed walnuts or different oils and herbs to make it your own. Whatever you think that will be just right.

To make the dressing you will need a small bowl or highball glass.  Mix the crushed garlic with the oil, vinegar, lemon / lime juice and seasoning then stir vigorously.  Now you have a healthy dressing that’s far tastier than anything you’ll find on a supermarket shelf, just as the fish and sweet potatoes are finishing.

Once they’re all ready, cut the sweet potato into chunky rings and serve with the fish and a generous portion of salad.  Top off with the garden herbs and bon appetit!

Health benefits:

A light yet satisfying balanced meal that keeps you feeling fuller for longer, with many of your 5-a-day ticked off. The ingredients have been carefully selected to support a healthy and efficient heart, circulation, brain and digestion, whilst being rich in antioxidants to help keep ageing at bay.

The result you want:

Your fast, feel-good summer food has left you feeling nicely satisfied and enabled you to easily resist the lure of the snack cupboard, whilst leaving you plenty of time to enjoy the rest of your evening.  You can feel proud of yourself!

For me, I love to end the day feeling proud of cooking a beautiful meal for my family that strengthens us from within, and going to bed feeling positive come rain or shine.