This roasted salmon jewelled rice and quinoa summer salad is such a deliciously easy, healthy dish to pull together and enjoy with the family.
Jump to:
Summer definitely has arrived here and one of the best things about the warmer months is eating outside. Weekend lunches alfresco are a favourite here, usually something light and not too time-consuming to make.
Ingredients for Roasted Salmon Summer Salad
Salmon
We used Wild Alaskan Salmon for this dish. It is nutritionally superior than farmed salmon, it's wonderfully red colour is packed full of anti-oxidant benefits. You can, of course, use any fresh salmon.
Rice
Any rice that you have in your store cupboard will be good. We used a mix of long grain and wild rice. Wild rice adds a lovely nutty taste to this dish.
Quinoa
We've added Quinoa to this dish for its nutritional fabulousness! It adds an extra hit of protein and fibre plus some important minerals. It is naturally gluten-free too.
Salmon Marinade
This is a delicious marinade, all the ingredients infuse well and make the salmon sticky and fragrant. You will need:
- Honey
- Maple Syrup
- Chilli pepper (optional)
- fresh Ginger
- Olive oil
- Lime juice
Salad
Adapt this totally to your family's taste. We used spring onions, cucumber, red pepper, radishes, fresh apricots, oranges and pomegranate seeds.
Salad Dressing
This is a lovely fresh, citrusy dressing to complete the dish. Whisk the ingredients in a small jug and let everyone add their own (works for us!) Our dressing contains:
- Lemon juice
- Orange juice
- Dijon mustard
- Olive oil
How to prepare Roasted Salmon Jewelled Rice and Quinoa Summer Salad
Start with the marinade for the salmon. Simply mix together the honey, maple syrup, chilli pepper, fresh Ginger, Olive oil and Lime juice.
Pour the mixed marinade over the salmon and leave to marinate in the fridge for around 30 minutes, longer is better but 30 minutes is the least time needed to ensure that the flavours blend well into the salmon. Spoon marinade over the salmon once or twice during this time to keep moist.
Next, roast the salmon for around 20 minutes until cooked through and the edges are slightly caramelised and crispy. Roast for a little extra as necessary. Let the salmon cool and refrigerate until needed.
Cook the Long grain with wild rice and Quinoa in the vegetable stock in separate pans. Once cooked, let both cool, then combine and set aside.
Prepare the fruit and veg elements: Thinly slice 4 large spring onions. Dice around 6 inches of Cucumber. Dice half a medium red Pepper. Slice 6 radishes, Thinly slice 2 fresh apricots. Chop 1 large orange into small pieces. Take the seeds from 2 small pomegranates.
- The dressing is super simple, take the juices of the lemon and orange, Dijon mustard and Olive oil and whisk to combine.
- Finally, in a large bowl, add the salad ingredients to the Quinoa and rice and mix well. Add the cooked Salmon cubes and sprinkle with the Pomegranate seeds.
- Transfer to a large serving plate and dish up!
- Once served, pour the dressing over the individual servings.
This salmon dish can be a main dish for 2 people or a light lunch for 4.
Health benefits of Salmon
Salmon, especially wild salmon rather than farmed, is high in omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. It is an amazingly rich source of high quality protein. Salmon is a fantastic source of Astaxanthin, a powerful anti-oxidant that gives Salmon its red pigment colour. It is also a great source of several B vitamins and Selenium. Check out the nutritional info links below for more healthy facts about some of the nutrient-dense ingredients in this dish.
Can this Salmon dish be made in advance?
The salmon can be easily be roasted with the marinade a day or two beforehand as it is to be eaten cold. The rice and Quinoa can also be made the day before, along with the dressing and the other ingredients prepared and kept in the fridge. This can definitely be a totally made ahead dish!
If you prefer chicken, try this fried brown rice recipe! It's hearty, filling and loaded with healthy veggies.
More Salmon recipes:
- Honey Ginger Pumpkin seed and Walnut crusted Salmon
- Roasted Salmon with Cumin Pumpkin Seed Crust
- Tuna au Poivre
- Roasted Seeded Salmon with Green Lentils
- Super Simple Salmon Bites
Nutritional Info Links
Roasted Salmon Jewelled Rice and Quinoa Summer Salad
Ingredients
- 2 8-9 ounce Salmon Fillets, skinless and cut into bite size pieces
For the Salmon Marinade
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ small chilli pepper, deseeded and chopped
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, finely grated
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Juice of 1 Lime
For the Jeweled Salad
- 1 cup Long grain rice with wild rice
- ½ cup Quinoa
- 1 cube Vegetable stock
- 4-5 Spring onions, thinly sliced
- 6 inches Cucumber, diced
- Half a medium red Pepper, diced
- 4 small radishes, thinly sliced
- 2 fresh Apricots, chopped
- 1 large orange, chopped
- 1 medium Pomegranates, seeds
For the Dressing
- Juice of 1 large orange
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon Mustard
Instructions
Salmon Marinade
- Mix all the ingredients together and pour the marinade over the salmon and leave to marinate for around 30 minutes in the fridge. Spoon marinade over the salmon once or twice during the 30 minutes.
Salmon
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Roast the salmon for around 20 minutes until cooked through, I like it slightly crispy around the edges and do roast for a little longer if necessary.
- Let the salmon cool, then refrigerate until needed.
Jewelled Rice and Quinoa Summer Salad
- Cook the rice and quinoa in the vegetable stock in separate pans. Once cooked, let both cool, then combine and set aside.
- Combine the cooked rice and Quinoa with the salad ingredients and spread onto a large serving plate. Chop the cooked Salmon into small cubes and dot around the plate. Once served, mix the dressing ingredients together, then pour over the individual servings.
*Nutritional data is provided as a courtesy and is accurate to the best of my knowledge. You can verify it using the nutrition calculator of your choice. All data is based on net carbs, without sugar alcohol: Swerve, Erythritol, Monk Fruit or Allulose.
© Copyright for Nutritious Deliciousness. Please use the share buttons to share on social media, but please do not copy/paste the recipe.
Mairead
Lovely! And perfect for a summer lunch.
Julie
Very healthy and beautiful to look at too (not unlike ourselves!!) x
Jacqui
I love salmon! These pictures made me so hungry, you have no idea lol. I never really think of pairing it with fruit when I'm making it, until I see a recipe like this and think about how good it would taste! Delish!
Thanks for joining the Learning From Each Other Linky Party! Doors open again on Friday 12am EST. Hope to see you there!