Poached Salmon and Quinoa Salad – 14sp

One of my favourite Sunday chill out programmes is Sunday Brunch and this weekend when Simon cooked up this lovely recipe I knew straight away I was going to have to give it a go. Once I printed off the recipe I made myself a few adjustments to both make it propoint friendly and to up the flavour. Simon’s original recipe can be found here.

This is the first time I have poached salmon and I loved both the flavour and texture. The salad that goes with is so fresh and vibrant too. I added some spices and more vegetable to both bulk up the quantity and flavour of the salad so feel free to add any other salad ingredients you fancy. The fresh herbs are what really make the salad amazing so don’t leave them out if you can help it.

Ingredients

Serves 2 = 14sp (previously 14pp) each

2 x salmon fillets (max 130g each)

For the poaching stock

100ml white wine

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

1 fish stock cube

1 bay leaf

12 coriander seeds

For the salad

80g dried quinoa (to cook your quinoa pop in a pan with 400ml boiling water, ½ a vegetable stock cube,  ¼ tsp of cumin and ground coriander)

70g edamame beans (you can get these in Tesco next to the stir fry stuff (optional)

2 or 3 spring onions, finely chopped

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint and fresh coriander

100g chickpeas (I cooked mine for 3 minutes in the poaching stock once the fish had cooked)

Cucumber, diced

Squeeze of Lemon (left over from lemon above)

Salad leaves

For the dressing

100ml fat free natural yogurt

Zest and juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp finely chopped fresh mint

Method

First pop the quinoa on to cook (I got mine from Tesco, popped in a pan with the water, spices and stock and simmered for 20 minutes until the water absorbs).

Then pop all of the ingredients for the poaching stock in a pan and bring to a simmer. Then add the fish and simmer for 8 minutes.

While the fish is cooking pop all of the salad ingredients (other than the quinoa) in a large bowl.

In a smaller bowl mix all of the dressing ingredients together.

Once the quinoa is cooked and all the water has been absorbed give it a stir and leave it to rest for a few minutes. Then fluff it with a fork and mix it in with the other salad ingredients. Squirt a bit of lemon in, season nicely and mix again.

Serve the salmon with the salad, dressing and salad leaves.

Enjoy!