For some reason, Sunday seems to be my least favorite day of the week to cook. It’s not that I don’t enjoy making delicious meals. Maybe it’s because I’d rather spend my weekends outside rollerblading, hiking or relaxing at the beach. So when dinner time rolls around, I would just prefer to have something quick and easy.
This weekend was especially warm which made my body naturally crave something cool, crisp and fresh. What could be better than a fast salad with wild salmon, buckwheat and pinto beans?!
Here’s another recipe I made up on the fly. It’s very simple, requires very little effort and only a couple small pans for cooking.
Ingredients:
1 piece of wild salmon (about 200g)
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 english cucumber – chopped
3 roma tomatoes – chopped
1 15oz can pinto beans – strained and rinsed
1/4 cup buckwheat (once cooked will become almost 1 cup) – cooked and cooled
1/4 cup currants
1/4 cup dried apricots – chopped
1 small shallot – diced
A couple good handfuls of your favorite lettuce (I like romaine and green leaf)
Dressing:
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
Instructions:
If you plan this meal in advance, I would suggest soaking the buckwheat for several hours to enhance the digestibility. Otherwise, give it a good rinse before cooking. Follow the instruction on the package to cook.
Once cooked, set it aside to cook.
While the buckwheat is cooking, heat the coconut oil in a small skillet. Pan fry the salmon until cooked (only a few minutes on each side). You don’t want to over cook the salmon because doing so can damage the essential fatty acids (omega-3′s). We want to cook delicious AND healthy, right?!
Once cooked, you can let the salmon cool a bit before cutting into pieces, or flake into bits (whichever you prefer).
All the other ingredients (except the lettuce) can simply be chopped up and mixed in a large bowl. When the buckwheat and salmon are cool, mix them in, as well.
The lettuce can be cut into pieces and used as a bed for the rest of the meal, or mix with a nice lemon-oil dressing and served on the side.
This meal is a bit similar to my chickpea, mango, quinoa recipe. But I want to emphasize that cooking wonderful meals does not mean we need to re-invent the wheel! Take some ideas of what we know and like. Throw some things together and see what happens. Don’t be afraid to experiment with other grains and veggies. Everyone has different favorites, so let your taste buds guide you… and have FUN!
