Allison Cafe

Apr
24
2009

Somethings Fishy…And That’s A Good Thing!

As a newlywed I am always looking for new recipes to make for dinner. But not just any recipe. I strive to find a balance between tasty, healthy and easy. Oh yeah, and affordable. One of my recent discoveries is a great Giada recipe. I was able to buy all of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s, with the exception of the puff pastry, which I got at the grocery store. Not only is this recipe healthy, when I made it for my husband the other day we discovered an explosion of flavors in fresh taste of the pesto, the flakiness of the pastry, the sweetness of the salmon and crunchiness of the almonds. The best part? It’s quick and easy, it only took about 30 minutes to prepare.

Healthy and Tasty

Here is the recipe, enjoy!

Easy and Tasty Salmon with Puff Pastry and Pesto

Ingredients

1 bunch of fresh basil, about 3 cups

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 clove of garlic

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 small fillets of salmon (I bought the frozen wild sockeye salmon from Trader Joe’s and it turned out great)

1 package of Puff Pastry, bought frozen and thawed in the fridge

1 cup of grape tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup sliced almonds

Easy and tasty Salmon with Pesto

Preparation

Prepare the pesto: Place the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper in a blender and combine until finely chopped. Add the olive oil and blend until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and add the Parmesan cheese in desired amounts. Set aside. (Tip: If you are short on time, you can also substitute store bought pesto; but I highly recommend making your own if you have a few extra minutes.)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. On a lightly greased foil-lined cookie sheet, lay 2 pieces of the puff pastry dough cut slightly larger than your salmon fillets. On the same cookie sheet, place the salmon fillets next to the puff pastry. Be careful that they don’t touch. (Tip: using foil with cooking spray on the cookie sheet and then placing the pastry and salmon on top of the foil makes clean up much easier!) Next, sprinkle the almond slices on top of the salmon fillets. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

To serve, place each piece of puff pastry on a plate. Top each puff pastry with pesto. Top the pesto with slices of the tomatoes. Top the tomatoes with the salmon and serve.

Fun Facts: The Health Benefits of Salmon

“Salmon is low in calories and saturated fat, yet high in protein, and a unique type of health-promoting fat, the omega-3 essential fatty acids. As their name implies, essential fatty acids are essential for human health but because they cannot be made by the body, they must be obtained from foods. Fish contain a type of essential fatty acid called the omega-3 fatty acids. Wild-caught cold water fish, like salmon, are higher in omega-3 fatty acids than warm water fish. In fact, the fat composition of salmon has recently been evaluated as superior not only because of its rich omega-3 content, but also because of its great ratio of omega-3s to omega-6s and its health-supportive balance of saturated, monounsaturated, and polyunsaturated fats. Each of these features in the fat composition of salmon helps reduce risk of unwanted inflammation and help maintain the integrity of our immune and circulatory systems. In addition to being an excellent source of omega-3s, salmon are an excellent source of selenium, a very good source of protein, niacin and vitamin B12, and a good source of phosphorus, magnesium and vitamin B6.” (Source: Whfoods.org)