I had a meal in mind today before I left to work out. It was most popular dish on my personal chef menu because clients love the mix of flavors and the high nutritional content. It’s a super-food meal and the star is quinoa. Quinoa is a Peruvian grain which is high in amino acids and a complete protein. The dish features salmon, quinoa, corn, edamame, carrot, herbs, and a cucumber-lime raita with few dashes of togarashi, a Japanese chili spice mix. I made it many years ago in my Next Food Network Star video that nobody watched. Nonetheless, it’s an outstanding dish and you can serve it happily to vegetarians.
I don’t like to waste food so although I’d overcooked (you can see the flecks of brown in the photo) some quinoa before I left for the gym, I put it aside for future use. In my fridge I had leftover lemon-thyme chicken, tomato salsa and some sautéed cabbage with garlic and balsamic vinegar. As I started putting together my plate, I also thought about hummus because I put a little of it on almost everything and voila! They’re really complementary and are excellent on chicken.
Quinoa: heat a large size sauté pan with sides over medium heat and add oil. Add shallots and cook for 1-2 minutes then add crushed garlic and carrots. Sauté carrots until tender but firm then add corn and edamame. Season the vegetables with sea salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add warm quinoa, thyme, parsley, lemon zest and mix thoroughly and set aside.
Salmon: season both sides of fish with sea salt and pepper. Heat a sauté pan over medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Add fish and cook about 2-4 minutes per side depending upon the thickness of your fish. Prepare sauce while salmon is cooking. Place salmon on top of quinoa and garnish with Cucumber-Lime Raita.
Makes 4 main course servings
Open the yogurt and using a microplane, zest the lemon over the yogurt. Put the diced onion in a small bowl and add enough lemon juice to coat the onions along with a pinch of salt. Let the onions sit about five minutes then add the yogurt-lime mixture. Add cucumber, cilantro, a few dashes of togarashi and mix thoroughly. Season with sea salt and pepper to taste.
Chef’s Quick Tip: for quick diced carrots, use Trader Joe’s brand of shredded carrots and dice them. A half a cup will do for this recipe. To quickly defrost frozen edamame, put them in a strainer in the sink and run hot water over them for a minute or two. Drain and add to the pan. Precook quinoa and freeze in one cup portions for faster preparation.