Of all the bounty the sea offers, salmon is easily one of the favorites with its familiar, firm, reddish, and buttery-like flavor. There are a few choices of Pacific salmon you can choose from – Pink, Sockeye, Coho, and Chinook.
Atlantic Salmon is also a good option. However, if you’re living in the USA, it’s prohibited to catch them in the wild. The Atlantic salmon you’ll often find is the farmed option in your local supermarket.
Whichever salmon you choose, each serving of salmon (about 3 to 4 ounces) is low in calories but high in nutrients. The protein in salmon is packed with omega-3, vitamin B12, potassium, iron, and vitamin D.
A diet that includes salmon and other low or anti-inflammatory foods has been shown to help ease the effects of arthritis.
Experts recommend adults eat at least two portions (about 8 ounces) of seafood a week or any fish high in omega-3. The Food and Drug Administration suggests children also eat one or two servings (about 2 to 4 ounces) of seafood a week once they turn 2.
Salmon is an excellent choice for the family to get their recommended dose of seafood per week. It’s readily available, and it’s easy to cook. Here are three salmon dishes you can cook that the whole family will love.
Baked Salmon
Baked salmon looks fancy with all the herbs on top, but don’t be fooled by its sophisticated look. Baked salmon is easy and delicious and comes together in less than 25 minutes, including prep.
Take your favorite cut of salmon and lay it on a baking tray and put your chosen ingredients on top. If this is your first time baking salmon, the following taste great together:
- Lemon and Dill
- Lemon and Butter
- Garlic Butter
- Pesto
- Lemon, Rosemary, and Olive Oil
As a general rule, a 2-pound salmon bakes for around 15-20 minutes in a 375F oven. The secret to delicious baked salmon is not to overcook it. If your salmon flakes easily with a fork, then it is ready. Put a few lemon slices on top as a garnish, serve with a side of vegetables and you’re ready to go!
You can also choose to bake salmon inside an aluminum foil or parchment paper for easier cleaning.
Pan-Seared Salmon
Pan-seared salmon is crispy on the outside, but oh, so tender and juicy on the inside. It’s easy to cook. All you need is a pan and a few ingredients.
An excellent way to start is to choose the right size salmon fillet, so the interior thoroughly cooks without overcooking the exteriors—6 oz. Salmon fillets readily available at your local supermarket fish section should do the trick.
You can marinate salmon in many ingredients before you pan sear it, but the easiest but still delicious way is to add lemon, salt, and pepper to the salmon before you cook it.
Heat olive oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet until it’s hot and shimmering. Sear the salmon, skin side until it’s golden and crisp about 4 minutes. Within this time, resist the temptation to flip it. Leaving it to fry in the oil untouched gives it a golden, delicious crispy texture.
When you see that it’s ready, reduce the heat to medium, flip and cook the other side to your liking, roughly another 3 minutes.
Garnish with lemon or dill, and serve with a side of rice, salad, or vegetables.
Poke Bowls
If your family likes sashimi (raw fish), you can try Poke Bowls. A Poke Bowl (pronounced poke-ay bowl) is a Hawaiian dish with sushi-grade raw fish on top garnished with an assortment of vegetables. The term poke means “to cut” in Hawaiian.
Assembling a poke dish is easy. All you have to do is take sushi-grade salmon and cut it into cubes. Put into a bowl and season with soy sauce and lemon juice. Want spicy? You can add spicy mayo sauce by mixing mayonnaise and Sriracha sauce.
Scoop rice into a bowl, top it with the seasoned salmon, avocado, cucumber, ginger, nori sheets, sesame seeds, and cucumber. You can substitute these vegetables with whatever you want and whatever is available in your fridge at the moment.
If sushi-grade salmon is not available, you can use regular salmon, marinate with soy sauce and lemon juice and sear it before putting it on top of the rice.
There are so many delicious ways to cook salmon that your family will love, but hopefully, these three salmon dishes will get you started with your weekly family menu.
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