Good Friday Fish Dishes

Good Friday for us means fish. Sometimes we have a fish pie (see here); fishcakes (another favourite here); and today we are also pondering over this one, a one-dish assembly of roasted salmon, asparagus and butternut squash. All are wonderful recipes and much will depend upon what I find at the farmer’s market today

as to which I cook later for our main meal. I have my eye on some asparagus – last week it was a little pricey (and may well be today) but I’m counting on them having stocked up for the Easter weekend and therefore having a bargain or two. The butternut squash and asaparagus make great accompaniments to the salmon and certainly enough for me, but for the bigger eaters brown rice helps to ‘extend’ the meal. It’s simple to prepare and can be on the table in no time at all but looks like you’ve been labouring for hours – my kind of food! This recipe serves 2 but can easily be doubled or trebled as liked.

ASPARAGUS, SALMON AND SQUASH RICE BOWL

Ingredients

METRIC/US

500 g/1 lb butternut squash, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces

1 tbsp oil or low-fat cooking spray or mist

2 tsp cumin seeds

pinch of chilli flakes

2 tsp grated root ginger

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 bunch asparagus spears, trimmed (I shall be using the first of the British crop)

2 salmon fillets

2 tsp honey (optional)

200 g/11/3 cups warm,cooked, long grain brown rice

1 tbsp peanuts, chopped

coriander/cilantro sprigs and lemon wedges to garnish and flavour

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220 C/425 F/gas mark 7.
Toss the squash with the oil (or spritz generously with low-fat spray or mist), cumin, chilli and salt and pepper to taste. Place on a large ovenproof tray and roast for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile, rub the ginger over the salmon and drizzle with the honey if using. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add the asparagus and salmon to the squash after 25 minutes and cook for a further 10 minutes.
To serve, put the squash, asparagus and rice in 2 serving bowls and top each with a cooked salmon fillet. Sprinkle with the peanuts and serve garnished with the coriander/cilantro and lemon wedges (squeeze the lemon over everything before eating).

SERVES 2

WLS PORTION: 1/2

CALORIES PER PORTION: 465 (including rice)

PROTEIN: 35.5g

CARBOHYDRATE: 47.6g

FAT: 14.8g

Image courtesy of British Asparagus