Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Beware - Healthy Post

Boyfriend and I have been less than healthy lately. We're working on it, though. We go for walks, we play the Wii, I plan to start running again (sometime) and I intend to buy some light weights for something to do while watching tv. In order to not let all our "hard work" go to waste, I have been trying to make more healthy, portion controlled dinners...and what's more healthy than salmon?
We had some Norwegian salmon in the refrigerator and I wanted to prepare it in a way that used little oil and was still flavorful and moist. I found a recipe for steaming the salmon in foil packets that looked very simple and used some pantry staples. It's super simple - you season the fish with salt and pepper, lay some capers and lemon slices on the fish and add some lemon juice and white wine to the foil packet. The fish steams inside the foil for about 10 minutes and comes out moist, flavorful, and super healthy. We had ours with some roasted potatoes and sautéed asparagus. You know how sometimes you eat a massive piece of cake, or half a giant sized bag of potato chips, or 2 ramen noodle packages at once (sometimes I crave salt! What of it?)...and it feels so good? Conversely, when you eat a meal that you know is very healthy and full of all the vitamins, nutrients, and essential oils that you know are good for you it feels so satisfying. That's what this meal felt like. More than how it tasted, what I remember is just feeling so good after eating it. I didn't feel snacky, wasn't craving a dessert, nor was I sluggish or sleepy. I just felt good. The next time you're in the mood to feel good, try this fast, easy and very satisfying meal.

Salmon Packets
Serves 4
Recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentis

4 6 oz. salmon filets
8 lemon slices
4 tsp lemon juice
8 tbs white wine
4 tsp capers, drained
olive oil
salt and pepper

Lightly drizzle each salmon filet with a little bit of olive oil. Season both sides with salt and pepper. Place each filet onto a piece of foil big enough to fold over and seal. To the packet, add 1 tsp of lemon juice, 2 tbs white wine, 1 tsp of capers, and top the salmon with 2 slices of lemon. Fold the foil over and tightly wrap the package. Repeat for the remaining salmon filets.

Heat a grill pan or an outdoor grill to medium heat. Pleace each packet on the grill pan. Cook the fish atop the pan for 10 minutes for each inch of fish. Our fish was slightly thicker than 1 inch so I cooked it for almost 20 minutes and it was slightly overdone. If your fish is thicker than 1 inch, cook it for about 12 to 15 minutes.
You can serve the fish right out of the foil packet but I put it atop the sautéed asparagus and drizzled a little bit of the juice from the foil packet on top.




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