Chili Lime Cilantro Salmon with Garlic Roasted Quinoa

It's meatless Monday today and since I had a Sunday Funday yesterday, I did not make it to the store (or up past 9am for that matter), nor did I plan the countless details that go into a fully satisfying meatless meal. That being said, thank goodness I learned from my mom to always have enough on hand to whip up a meal for unexpected guests (or in this case me and my hubby). I picked up some wild Alaskan Sockeye salmon last week after reading about the benefits of the wild salmon versus anything farm raised and was proud to know I knew how to differentiate between good salmon. There's a great article by Eating Well magazine that highlights the differences one will find between Atlantic Salmon and the Alaskan Salmon. I've had my share of the pink variety of Atlantic salmon and have enjoyed it quite a bit, but if you can spring the extra few bucks and find a good sale - go with the Alaskan. Your tastebuds and you health will thank you!

I "won" some quinoa at white elephant last Christmas and I hate to admit that it took me until just now to actually make it. I'm so glad I finally did! Quinoa is a super food and can take on so many great forms - I can't wait to try it other ways. 

I'll keep it simple - dinner consisted of the chili lime cilantro salmon which I threw on the grill, some sautéed broccoli and the garlic roasted quinoa. Steve has always enjoyed my salmon teriyaki - so this was a bit of a risk in terms of serving salmon - no sugar and not loaded with the deliciousness of MSG and sodium found in soy sauce. He liked it! Stevie liked it! Granted he thought the quinoa tasted like Mexican rice - baby steps. Baby steps. Next time I'll make the quinoa with chicken broth instead of vegetable and I think he'll enjoy it more. By the end if dinner he did admit that while he liked the quinoa,  he couldn't eat a lot of it. Fine - can handle that! 

Chili Cilantro Lime Salmon

Ingredients 

1 lb salmon, thawed

Zest and juice of one lime

1 tsp honey

1tsp Siracha sauce

1 tsp garlic

1/2 c chopped cilantro

1/4 c olive oil

Combine lime zest, juice, honey, Siracha, garlic, cilantro and olive oil in gallon sized zip lock or marinating dish. Add salmon and allow to marinate 30 minutes - one hour. Heat grill to 300 degrees. Remove salmon from marinade and add each piece to foil. Drizzle extra marinade and close foil up creating a pouch. Grill skin down until salmon is cooked most of the way through. Flip over and remove skin, allowing salmon to finish cooking on other side. Baste with marinade remaining in foil pouch. 

Garlic Roasted Quinoa

Ingredients

1 cup dry quinoa

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 clove of garlic, minced

1/8 c onion, chopped

2 c vegetable or chicken broth

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat olive oil in medium saucepan. Cook quinoa until slightly browned and aromatic* (about 3-5 minutes). Remove to fine strainer and rinse**. Leave quinoa in strainer while sautéing garlic and onion (add more olive oil if needed to ensure garlic and onion do not burn). Allow onions to cook until slightly translucent. Add quinoa and broth, cook on medium heat until rapid boil occurs. Lower heat and add lid allowing quinoa to simmer. Allow to simmer approximately 15 minutes or until all liquids have evaporated and quinoa has a slight "curly que" appearance. Remove from heat and allow to cool with lid on for several minutes. Fluff with a fork and add salt and pepper to taste. 

*Browning quinoa really helps bring out the flavor. It does not have to be browned before cooking but definitely is worth the few extra minutes if you have it!

**Quinoa has an outer shell that without being rinsed causes a bit of a bitter taste. Always rinse your quinoa somewhere in the cooking process!