I continue my quest to find healthy holiday recipes…today, I found 30 recipes from Taste of Home. You’ll find soups, salads, sides, main dishes… a bit for everyone. ENJOY!
You and your family will love these healthy dishes.
Tag: MAIN DISH
Recipe for the Course: Wild Salmon Kebabs with Asian Pesto
Hello everyone! You guys are part of an assignment for my current course. You see, each class at Hawthorn comes with a recipe of the course. We are often asked to prepare the recipe, write about our experiences, as an assignment, and share it with someone else…THAT’S YOU! First, I’ll describe the assignment, and the health benefits of salmon, as it relates to each life stage, then I’ll give you the recipe itself, and finally, you’ll find my assignment at the bottom, which includes my experiences preparing this dish.
For this assignment, we were asked to select a recipe from the Rebecca Katz Recipe Box website. Most of our course recipes come from Rebecca, a phenomenal chef. Rebecca has authored 5 cookbooks and is the creator of the legendary MAGIC MINERAL BROTH recipe. You can find that recipe HERE.
Rebecca also is the founder of the non-profit organization the Healing Kitchens Institute. Through this organization, Rebecca works “closely on healing through food with survivors and health professionals in major US cancer centers.”
So, as I looked through Rebecca’s “recipe box“, I found this salmon recipe and immediately knew this was the one. I loved the combination of herbs, the lime juice and the jalapeño. I also remembered the Bok Choy with Sesame and Ginger from the last course and thought the two recipes would make a good pair and served the salmon with this equally tasty Bok Choy recipe.
My course is “life cycle nutrition”. So, one additional aspect of this assignment, is to explain the health benefits of salmon as it relates to each life cycle. (Don’t worry, I’ll be brief.)
Health benefits of salmon (1,2)
Salmon, one of the most popular fish, is a wonderful source of protein and healthy fatty acids. Salmon contains high amounts of omega-3 fats, as well as vitamins A, D, B and the minerals selenium, zinc, phosphorus, calcium and iron. All of nutrients are beneficial in all stages of life:
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- Prenatal
- Provide healthy fats and nutrients to prepare the female body for pregnancy.
- Pregnancy
- The fats and nutrients help the developing fetus thrive. The fetus needs these nutrients to develop all internal organs, skin, muscles, bones and hair. The nutrients, especially the fatty acids, help with brain development.
- Childhood – birth to 10 years
- These nutrients help infants and children with healthy bone and muscle growth, as well as brain development.
- adolescence – 10 years to 20 years
- At this stage, children go through numerous growth spurts. These nutrients will support the fast growth of their bones and muscles, as they grow into adulthood.
- early adulthood – 20 years to 40 years
- During the young adult years, the nutrients support and promote healthy metabolism, bones, joints, brain, nerves, and skin.
- middle age – 40 years to 60 years
- Over the age of 40, the metabolism slows and the muscle tissue begins to weaken and deteriorate. These nutrients, along with the protein support a healthy body, metabolism and muscle growth. They also slow other signs of aging, such as wrinkles, and poor eyesight.
- old age – over 60 years
- In older adults, the nutrients fight inflammation, improve heart health, reduce risk of cancer, improve memory and protect the brain.
- Prenatal
The recipe:
Wild Salmon Kebabs with Asian Pesto
This delightful recipe is packed with flavor and will have you coming back for more.
Ingredients
- *ASIAN PESTO
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 scallion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped seeded jalapeño
- 3/4 cup tightly packed cilantro leaves
- 1/4 cup tightly packed fresh mint leaves
- 1/4 cup tightly packed flat-leaf parsley
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
- 1/4 teaspoon Grade B maple syrup *FISH
- 1 pound wild salmon fillet, skin and pinbones removed
- sea salt
- black pepper
Directions
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place bamboo skewers in a bowl of water for a few minutes, until soaked through.
- Make the Asian pesto: add ginger, garlic, scallion, jalapeño, cilantro, mint, parsley, oil, salt, lime juice, and maple syrup into a small food processor or blender. Blend until smooth, about a minute.
- Place the salmon on a cutting board and cut it lengthwise, then crosswise into 8 equal pieces.
- Put the fish on the prepared baking sheet. Insert a 6-inch bamboo skewer into each block of salmon
- Sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper over each piece. Using half the pesto, spread it on all sides of each piece of salmon. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Remove the salmon from the refrigerator, uncover, and slide the baking sheet into the oven. Bake just until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the salmon registers 120°F, 7 to 9 minutes depending on the thickness of the fillets. The flesh should be just opaque and beginning to flake.
- Transfer the kebabs, skewers and all, to a serving plate. Add a dollop of the remaining pesto to each piece of salmon and serve Immediately.
COOK’S NOTES: To get pieces that are of even thickness, purchase the center cut of the salmon rather than the tail.
Optionally: Cut the baked salmon up into smaller pieces and stick in toothpicks. Serve with the additional pesto on the side for great little appetizers.
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.rebeccakatz.com/recipe-box/wild-salmon-kebabs-with-asian-pesto
Closing thoughts:
Well there you have it. I hope you found this little assignment interesting and informative. Try this recipe, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s packed with flavor from all those wonderful herbs. I only have one more course before I do my research project, so this may be the last recipe for the course. But don’t worry, when I’m done with school, I’ll be developing my own recipes, which I’ll be sharing with all of you.
Until next time…namaste my friends.
Tamara
HERE’S MY ASSIGNMENT, AS IT WAS TURNED IN:
Choose a recipe to prepare and share with others from http://www.rebeccakatz.com/recipe-box. Explain to those you share the recipe with how it supports health and contributes to health during specific stages of the life cycle. Describe your experience.
I chose to make “Wild Salmon with Asian Pesto”, which I served over “Bok Choy with Sesame and Ginger”. The Bok Choy recipe was from the practical activities for course MHNE 602 (Katz, 2008). They have similar flavors and go well together.
I gathered the ingredients for the salmon and prepared the recipe as directed. As the salmon marinated, I prepared the ingredients for the Bok Choy, then, as the salmon baked, I began making the Bok Choy. Once everything was complete, I spooned the Bok Choy onto a serving platter, and topped it with the salmon.
When I share this recipe on my blog, I will relay the many health benefits of salmon at all stages of life. Salmon is a good source of lean protein, and omega-3 fatty acids (Patil, 2018). It is also high minerals such as iron, calcium, selenium and phosphorus as well as vitamins A, B, and D. All of these nutrients are essential at all stages of life. Prenatally, they provide women with healthy fats and nutrients, which help prepare the body for pregnancy (Fallon, 2015). During pregnancy, the fats and nutrients are needed to help the developing fetus thrive (Fallon, 2015).
During infancy, and throughout childhood, these nutrients help with healthy bone and muscle growth, as well as brain development (Fallon, 2015). During the adult years, the nutrients promote healthy metabolism, bones, joints, brain, nerves, and skin (Patil, 2018). In older adults, the nutrients fight inflammation, improve heart health, reduce risk of cancer, improve memory and protect the brain (Patil, 2018).
Overall, this recipe was easy to prepare and was a big hit, with my son taking seconds. I thoroughly enjoy cooking Ms. Katz’s delightful recipes. I will be sharing these recipes on my blog, www.thepurplealmond.com, on Monday, December 10, 2018. My followers love healthy recipes and I’m confident they will enjoy it as much as we did
PHOTO CREDIT: https://www.rebeccakatz.com/recipe-box/wild-salmon-kebabs-with-asian-pesto
SOURCE:
- https://www.organicfacts.net/salmon.html
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Fallon-Morell, S., (2015). The nourishing traditions book of baby & child care. Washington, District of Columbia: New Trends Publishing Inc.
