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How are your New Year’s resolutions coming? Personally, I am type A and easily overwhelmed, so I focus more on weekly goals/resolutions. Who knows what’s going to be happening in my unpredictable world months from now, so it’s one step at a time over here.
2016 is rough for us all in many ways. Slowing down is in order. Rather than work, work, work. Always rushing towards the next thing. Let’s live in the here and now.
Let’s make a meal that takes 3 hours to prepare. Find the prettiest fish at the market. Buy a few new ingredients. Slow roast garlic and veggies til the house smells like our favorite restaurant. You won’t regret it. Really.
Although salmon is certainly the star of this meal, I was also inspired by a wonderful company, Chosen Foods, so I included their organic quinoa, avocado oil, and flavorful chili sesame oil to complete the meal. I am thrilled with how this dish came together. It was therapeutic cooking it, and delicious to eat. And check out the amazing products that Chosen Foods offers. They are a small health-focused company with a beautiful line of products =)
Spicy Orange Salmon with Slow Roasted Veggies
Ingredients:
2 salmon filets (4-6 oz each), skinned and patted dry
1/2 c raw quinoa, rinsed
1/4 c raw buckwheat, rinsed
2 large bunches scallions, roots and tops trimmed
2 red or orange bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 c baby kale, or thinly sliced curly kale
1 large orange, quartered
1 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp pure maple syrup
8 cloves roasted garlic, smeared into a paste
1 c or more low-sodium veggie broth
1 tbsp Spicy Sesame Oil
Avocado oil for roasted veggies
A few lemon or orange slices for serving
Maldon sea salt for serving
Method:
Add the quinoa and buckwheat to 1 1/4 c water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed. Season with a pinch of salt and keep warm.
Toss the peppers with 2-3 tsp avocado oil, salt and pepper. Roast at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes, stirring and rotating the pan halfway through.
Heat a large oven-safe saute pan with 2-3 tsp avocado oil over medium high heat. Add the scallions and cook for 5 minutes, or until beginning to caramelize. Lower heat, and deglaze the pan with 1/4 c veggie broth and add a dash of salt and pepper. Transfer the pan to a 325 degree oven (add more broth if the pan is dry) and roast for 25-30 minutes, or until very soft.
Heat a large saute pan with 1 tbsp avocado oil over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, carefully lay salmon filets to the pan, presentation side down, side that had the skin, facing up. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper. After 1-2 minutes, lower heat and flip fish. Season again. After about 30 seconds remove from heat. Add the juice from 1/4 of the orange, and transfer to a 300 degree oven. Cook until salmon is just barely cooked through. Add juice from another 1/4 orange
To the pan of scallions, add the roasted peppers, baby kale, juice from 1/2 orange, tamari, 1/4 c veggie broth, garlic, and maple syrup.
Serve the salmon over the quinoa-veggie mixture. Drizzle with sesame oil, and serve with citrus wedges. I prefer my fish with a pinch of flaky sea salt!
