10-minute Healthy Meal

I saw the movie Food, Inc. a couple of weeks ago.  As someone who reads a lot about food, cooking and good health, I thought that I knew what to expect.  But, one of the things that surprised me in the movie was the prevalence of two foods in the food system: corn and soy.  With most beef and chicken and farmed fish fed corn and/or soy feed, it seems that our food lacks true diversity and isn’t as healthy as in the past.  Given the benefits of wild salmon, I have experimented with recipes that include canned wild salmon (salmon potato cakes), and frozen wild salmon (salmon chili); so, when the morning after watching Food, Inc. I saw that fresh wild salmon was available and looked really fresh, I thought I would see about fixing fresh fish. Although canned salmon is the most budget friendly of the three, this preparation is nice enough for guests or a special meal.

Since the texture of wild salmon tends to be less buttery and a bit tougher than farmed salmon, I was interested in seeing how to prepare it without drying it out.  I had the best results poaching the salmon quickly in just a small amount of liquid. The key was to cook it briefly, no more than 10 minutes per inch of thickness. The fish was very tender, and avoided the dryness of overcooked panfried or broiled salmon, and was a gorgeous red color.  I served this with sriracha mayonnaise (3 parts mayo, 1 part sriracha), microwaved steamed broccoli and leftover rice salad.  Dinner was on the table in literally 10 minutes.

Poached Wild Salmon

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable broth
3 T white wine (or 1 T vinegar and 2 T broth)
1/4 onion, sliced thin
2 cloves garlic peeled
1-2 parsley sprigs
4 Boneless salmon filets 4-6 oz. each

In a large, deep skillet, place all ingredients except salmon.  Bring to a boil, turn down heat and simmer for 3 minutes.  Place salmon into poaching liquid, liquid should not cover the fish.  Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 3-5 minutes only.  Remove the pan from the burner and let it sit for a couple of minutes to complete cooking.

posted at $5 Dinners , Tempt My Tummy Tuesday, Food Renegade, and Ultimate Recipe Swap