While Summer Is Still Here …

Here in the UK summer is still with us, although evenings are getting chillier and there’s a bit of a nip to the early morning air. The sun has shone all this week, the mercury has risen and I have been cooking bariatric-friendly food with a distinctive light and summery flavour.

A visit to one of my fish suppliers sparked the recipe featured this week. I bagged a side of wild Alaskan salmon for a really good bargain price which I knew would make a gorgeous meal for entertaining and wouldn’t need too much preparation. This little beauty served 8 of us comfortably and needed little more than an accompanying salad (or you could serve with a bowl of cooked greens like French beans, peas and asparagus) and some baby new potatoes. The sauce I made to go with the salmon was a triumph and so easy-peasy to make. The final flourish was to garnish with some fresh herbs and chive flowers from our bariatriccookery.com herb garden..

You could make this recipe with salmon pieces – steaks or fillets, and adjust the cooking time accordingly. The sauce is a must for the bariatric – it helps to moisten the fish for easy eating. It’s also good with other fish dishes and to dress a salad or slaw.

SALMON WITH COUNTRY GARDEN HERB SAUCE

Ingredients

METRIC/US

1 side wild Alaskan salmon, weighing about 800 g/13/4 lbs

finely grated rind and juice of 1 lemon

low-fat cooking spray or mist

1 small onion, very finely chopped

150 g/5 oz half fat creme fraiche

150 g/5 oz fat-free Greek yogurt

2 tbsp chopped watercress/arugula

1 tbsp snipped fresh chives

1 tbsp chopped fresh marjoram, oregano or parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

fresh herbs and chive flowers to garnish

METHOD

1. Place the salmon onto a baking dish and sprinkle over the lemon juice and half of the lemon zest. Cover and leave to stand for at least 30 minutes.

2. Preheat the oven to 200 C/400 F/gas mark 6.

3. Remove the cover from the salmon, spritz generously with low-fat cooking spray or mist and cook in the oven for 15-18 minutes. Remove from the oven, cover with foil and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, spritz a small pan with low-fat cooking spray or mist, heat, add the onion and cook gently until very soft. Remove from the heat, add the creme fraiche, yogurt, watercress/arugula, chives, chopped herbs and salt and pepper to taste, mixing well.

5. Serve the salmon with the prepared sauce, garnished with herbs and chive flowers.

SERVES 8

WLS PORTION: 1/2

CALORIES PER PORTION: 200

PROTEIN: 24 g

CARBOHYDRATE: 3.1 g

FAT: 10.2 g

Other recipes using salmon that you might like to try are: