Quinoa Pilaf with Roasted Salmon and Red Pepper Sauce

“By slow-roasting the salmon filets in the oven, you have almost a fail-proof way of cooking the perfect piece of healthy deliciousness. Slow-roasting allows the fatty layers between the meat to melt, making the fish juicy and tender.”

Quinoa Pilaf with Roasted Salmon and Red Pepper Sauce

Wine Recommendation: While salmon generally goes well with Pinot Noir, and will do so here as well, a better choice would be a Merlot or even a Sangiovese due to the red pepper sauce. 

{The making of Quinoa Pilaf with Roasted Salmon and Red Pepper Sauce}

No matter the reason you cook at home, whether it’s to save money, have better control over what you put into your mouth (and on your waistline) or the fact that there’s just NOWHERE for you to go out to eat, or you just plain enjoy cooking; I’m sure that you don’t want to spend all your time in the kitchen cooking dinner. And you want something colorful, tasty, healthy and delicious. Well, look no further…Quinoa Pilaf with Roasted Salmon and Red Pepper Sauce is a powerhouse of healthy food, beautifully presented, and done in about 30 minutes.

Simple to prepare, pretty enough for company and a nutritional powerhouse – what’s not to love?

Really. I mean how can you go wrong in the healthy department? Quinoa, salmon and red peppers. It’s in the bag.

Let’s start with the quinoa.

Unless you’ve been living in a cave (and if so, welcome back) you know that quinoa is being touted as a “superfood” –  gluten-free, filled with nutrient-rich magnesium, iron, and calcium. It’s also low in both fat and calories, yet high in protein. The new culinary star. And it’s so easy to prepare. The only thing I find to be important when working with quinoa is to rinse it well. I use a triple rinse method to get the bitter coating off; if you don’t mind a little bit of bitter, then just give it a rinse as you would rice. I’m finding more and more manufacturers saying you don’t need to rinse quinoa but I suspect they have removed some of the pericarps and that’s like removing some of the nutrition. So buy whole, natural quinoa and give it a good rinse.

Now on to the salmon.

If you have read anything on my site, then you know that I am a firm advocate of fresh, wild caught salmon. None of that “Atlantic Farmed” stuff. The health benefits of wild caught salmon are many; but especially for its high concentration of Omega 3 fatty acids, essential amino acids and high quality of protein. Farmed salmon does not reach the same levels of health benefits. And if they have to put dye in it to make it look like salmon, then something is not exactly right.

That said, the farmed fish industry is starting to make some good progress towards stopping the practices they used that fouled the water which had previously been a huge problem for the environment and are working towards keeping the fish farms cleaner so the fish are not swimming in their own filth. Changing the feed mix and not using hormones is also on the rise.

But for now, I will still stick with my wild salmon.

If all you can get is farmed, make sure it’s the best-farmed salmon you can find. Farmed salmon from Chile has been moved to the yellow list by the Monterey Bay Aquarium’ Seafood Watch program.  And of course, markets such as Whole Foods, are very watchful of where their seafood comes from, so it’s a fairly safe choice when buying fish.

By slow-roasting the salmon filets in the oven, you have almost a fail-proof way of cooking the perfect piece of healthy deliciousness. Slow-roasting allows the fatty layers in between the meat to melt, making the fish juicy and tender.

Don’t overcook it. Better a little rare, then overdone.

Red bell peppers.

Red bell peppers have 300% of the daily requirement for vitamin C.

300%!

AND they have high levels of vitamins A, B-6, and magnesium along with supplying antioxidants.

PLUS PLUS they increase your metabolism, which aids in weight loss.

All of these foods are considered part of  The World’s Healthiest Foods.

Healthy, simple, elegant – how can you not love this recipe for Quinoa Pilaf with Roasted Salmon and Red Pepper Sauce?

Well, you can’t. So make it today for a healthy and happy tomorrow.

LindySez:  I served this with some fresh steamed broccoli … you know, in case it wasn’t healthy enough.

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