Lunch/Dinner Recipe 6: Oven-baked Salmon Fillet with Red Rice and Steamed Vegetables

This is a relatively quick and easy dish to cook. The longest preparation component is the red rice which needs to cook 35 minutes. If you are in a rush substitute with normal brown rice or quinoa. In that event you should be able to finish this in app. 25 minutes. Start by cooking the rice and then preheat the oven to 180C. While the oven is heating up, prepare the fish in an oven proof tray. Once the fish is in the oven, I deal with cleaning and steaming the vegetables and finish preparing the rice.

The rice
1 cup red 'Camargue' rice
1 star anise seed
3-4 cardamom pods
2 tblsp mixed seeds
Vegetable bouillon granulate
Olive oil
Herbamare

My friend Erika, who is an amazing chef, taught me this recipe. Take 1 cup of red rice with 2 cups of water and then add 1 star anise seed, 3-4 cardamom pods and a little vegetable bouillon granulate for the cooking process. Follow the cooking instructions on the package in terms of timing.

The star anise seed and cardamom pods are removed when the rice has cooked. Once cooked, she adds a 'swig' of very good olive oil and 2 tblsp of mixed seeds and seasons it with Herbamare.

If you are however short on time (or ingredients) normal brown rice or even quinoa can easily substitute the above. Another alternative is to use the rice I made for the Mexican Feast which goes very well with this dish too (see post: http://alkalinefoods-ahealthierlife.blogspot.com/2011/01/dinner-recipe-4-mexican-feast.html)

The fish
Salmon (or trout) fillet with skin, app. 150 g per person
50-100 g feta cheese (I cooked two fillets and used 50 g)
A bit of lemon juice
Pepper

Gently wash the fillets under running cold water and dry off on a piece of paper towel. Put them skin side down in an oven proof tray and squeeze lemon juice over, season with pepper and finally crumble a dense layer of feta over them. I would NOT season it with salt as the feta is salty. Bake in the oven at 180C for 15-20 minutes (if your fillets are fairly small or thin they may be done after 15 minutes so make sure you don't overcook them as they become dry).

Vegetables
Mixed green vegetables steamed or blanched - you can choose among any detox friendly vegetables. I tend to like sugar snap peas and broccoli for this dish and would use a good handful of peas and roughly 5 broccoli 'flowers' for each person.
A handful of flatleafed parsley
Olive oil, lemon juice and Herbamare (or salt and pepper) for seasoning

When you have finished steaming your vegetables, toss them with a drizzle of good olive oil, a squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh chopped flatleafed parsley for extra taste. Season with Herbamare or salt and pepper.