Salmon's one of those easy fallback dishes for when you don't have masses of time to cook or think about cooking. I tend to buy a big bag full of salmon fillets and stick them in the freezer so they're always to hand whenever there's nothing else in the fridge. Salmon's a fish that can stand up to a lot of flavour, so I like to serve it alongside this Asian-esque vegetable stirfry.
If you're reading the ingredients list and wondering what on earth water chestnuts are, panic not. They usually come tinned from whatever section of the supermarket is trying to flog you twenty different types of soy sauce. As they're tinned, they keep in the cupboard for a good old time and add a nice crunch to things. In terms of the other condiments required here, these may require a pit stop to your local Asian store or a larger supermarket, but they make for versatile additions to several dishes and last for a long while.
What's the A to V?
Salmon is an oily fish, so a brilliant source of vitamins A and D, as well as iodine, selenium and many of the B vitamins. The veg provide sulphur, vitamin C, and calcium, and serve this with brown or wild rice for a helping of whole grain and a good dose of the B vitamins.
Ingredients (Serves 2):
2 salmon fillets
225g tin of water chestnuts
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, halved and then cut into crescent moons
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 generous handfuls of spinach or kale (or both)
1 tsp of tamarind paste
1 tsp of miso paste
1 tsp of mirin sauce
1 tbsp of soy or tamari sauce
Squeeze of lime and some coriander, to finish.
Method
Preheat your oven to 180 degrees.
Season your defrosted salmon. Personally I like to put a bit of jerk seasoning on mine for a crispy skin, but oil , salt and pepper all work well too. (A heads up that if you haven't fully defrosted the salmon, I usually find cooking it on a higher heat for about 10 minutes longer usually has the same effect.) Place your salmon in the oven and cook for around 20 minutes until cooked through and the skin has started to crisp.
Heat sesame or olive oil in a pan, and add your onion and garlic. Cook for 5 minutes until soft, then add your water chestnuts and tomatoes. Add your miso, mirin, tamarind and soy sauce at this point and be sure to stir well. After a further 5 minutes, add in your spinach and cook until wilted.
Serve with some brown rice, a bit more soy sauce or chilli sauce, and some coriander.