Maple Glazed Salmon With Tangy Strawberry Salad

Maple Glazed Salmon with Tangy Strawberry Salad

•  1 frozen 8-10 oz wild Alaskan or Coho salmon fillet (recommend from Trader Joes), defrosted in fridge overnight
•  5 oz baby or regular organic spinach leaves
•  1/2 cup goat cheese crumbles (or crumbled goat cheese)
•  1/2 pint of fresh organic strawberries
•  1/2 cup of toasted pine nuts (recommend Trader Joes)
•  1/4 cup  (or two hearty sprigs) of chopped organic green onion
•  a handful of organic mint or basil leaves (your choice)
•  1 organic lemon
•  3 strips of nitrate-free turkey bacon (recommend Trader Joes)
•  organic orange juice
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons Kerrygold butter
• tinfoil
• 1 teaspoon seasalt
• olive oil

Place the salmon fillet in a plastic bag or Tupperware container when you get home and pour in enough orange juice to coat the fillet. Add 1 tbsp soy sauce. Keep in fridge while preheating oven.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

While the oven is preheating, make the basting sauce: melt 1 tbsp butter in a small bowl in the microwave for 30 seconds to one minute, until melted. Once the butter is melted, add 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce and 1 tablespoon maple syrup and mix until combined into basting sauce.

Meanwhile, begin preparing the salad while the oven is preheating and finish making the salad once the salmon is in the oven. To make the salad, pour the spinach leaves into a large bowl. Then slice the strawberries and add to the bowl. Then add the goat cheese and pinenuts. Then chop the green onion and add the green parts to the salad. Reserve the white parts. Finally, pick off a handful of mint or basil leaves, layer the leaves on top of each other and roll together to form a cigar-shaped cylinder. Then slice into thin strips.

Once the oven is preheated, remove the salmon from the marinade and place on a long sheet of tinfoil inside a baking dish. Pull up sides of the tinfoil to create a pouch that will be sealed at the top. Before sealing, pour basting sauce over salmon. Then seal the foil and place the baking dish with the salmon, now wrapped in foil, in the oven. Bake for 20-22 minutes, depending on thickness.

While the salmon is baking, finish chopping any remaining salad ingredients and add to bowl. Then place 3 strips of nitrate-free turkey bacon (I highly recommend Trader Joes) and the white parts of the green onion in a saute pan with 1 tbsp butter and cook for 2 minutes per side over medium heat, or until lightly browned. Then remove from the heat, let cool, and chop into large pieces. Add atop the salad. Then dress the salad with olive oil, the juice of 1 organic lemon, and sea salt to taste.

When the salmon is done, unwrap and slice down the middle to check that it is fully cooked. If it is deep pink and translucent on the inside, rather than opaque and light pink or salmon colored (pun intended), rewrap and cook for another 5 minutes, or until fully cooked. Alternatively, you can finish cooking the salmon (if it needs a bit more time) in the saute pan for 1 minute.