Mediterranean Inspired Grain Salad with Salmon
Just because we can’t currently visit beautiful overseas destinations, doesn’t mean we can’t cook with inspiration from their flavours!
You can get creative with the spices you use to prepare your salmon – however, something to be mindful of is premixed seasonings. Unfortunately, these are not always gluten free. I recommend having a range of dried herbs and spices on hand so you can make your own creations without running the risk of adding gluten containing ingredients.
Using gluten free grains such as brown rice & quinoa is the perfect way to bump up the fibre content of our meals – something that majority of us Australians don’t consume enough of (and meeting the recommended intake becomes harder when we require a gluten free diet).
One final note before we get cooking – something I always like to mention is that I am a dietitian and not a chef. If a nutritious recipe is not quick & easy, it doesn’t make the cut for me! So, with my tick of approval, this is the perfect weeknight dinner or addition to a summer BBQ or get together.
Ingredients
- 1 cup brown rice & quinoa
- 2 fillets salmon
- Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)
- Dried spices – turmeric, paprika, garlic, cumin, pepper
- 1 bunch fresh parsley
- 1 cucumber
- ½ cup nuts and seeds – I used pine nuts, slivered almonds and pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup currants
- 2 handfuls baby spinach or other leafy greens
- Juice of 1 lime (or lime juice from bottle)
- Greek yogurt, to serve
Method
- Cook rice & quinoa according to packet instructions
- Place salmon on a baking tray and drizzle with EVOO then sprinkle with spices and place in an oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 20 mins
- Meanwhile, finely chop parsley and cucumber
- Combine rice mixture, parsley, cucumber, nuts & seeds and currants in a bowl and drizzle with EVOO & lime juice
- Divide grain salad into bowls (serve hot or cold) with spinach and top with salmon fillet and a spoonful of Greek yogurt – Enjoy!
Serves 2 with left over grain salad
Jen Mclaren
Jen is an Accredited Practising Dietitian and is currently working in preventative health including group and workplace / corporate education.
She also runs Correct Dietetics as part of Correct Exercise where she provides Medical Nutrition Therapy to assist with oncology, management of chronic conditions and intolerances and general health and wellbeing.
Jen enjoys sharing tools with clients to help them make choices independently and fit food into their lives.