Baked Wild Salmon Over Spinach

This past week we were fortunate enough to come across wild salmon at the Costco.  Their farm raised salmon is delicious and economically friendly, but this past visit all that was left was the wild salmon.  It was so pink and vibrant it made the other stuff looked like canned fish in comparison.  With the skin on and everything, it was a perfect change of pace.

The best part about working from home... Part 1

I love working from home, which I do on average once a week, for a number of reasons. It saves me on commuting costs, I get to sleep in, I can work in my pjs if I want to, etc. One of my favorite perks is the ability to make whatever I want for breakfast. I'm in no rush to catch the metro the mornings I work from home, and that gives me the time to make something more creative than scrambled eggs and bacon (not that I don't love those... I do! but variety is necessary sometimes).

Last week, I worked from home once and this week, twice. This post is the first of a 3-post series in which I'll share three yummy breakfast creations that came out of my few extra minutes on those mornings. :)

Poached Egg and Smoked Salmon over Roasted Asparagus and Red Bell Pepper

Ingredients

• 4-5 asparagus stalks
• 1 large, roasted red bell pepper from a jar or can (or a large, fresh red bell pepper)
• 1 egg
• 1- 2 thin slices of smoked salmon
• a drizzle olive oil or ghee for roasting the veggies (I used ghee for my asparagus)
• a small splash of coconut vinegar for poaching the eggs (optional)
• a sprinkle of salt*, pepper and chopped fresh dill to taste

Method

1. Peheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. If you don't have roasted red bell peppers in a jar or can, roast the red pepper for about 45 min (or until the skin is just about to blister; if you like it black, leave them in longer).
3. About 10 minutes before the red bell peppers are ready, add the asparagus with a drizzle of olive oil or ghee on top to the oven for roasting.
4. Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a light, rolling boil.
5. Add a small splash of coconut vinegar if you like.
6. Crack the egg into a small bowl and carefully drop it into the boiling water. If you want, you can take a small spoon and gently push the egg whites towards the egg yolk to keep it all together. I haven't found this method to be particularly effective, but some people do.
7. Wait 3 minutes for the egg to cook (I actually prefer to wait about 5 minutes because that will make the yolk just a little less runny).
8. Using a slotted spoon, scoop out the egg from the boiling water, and set aside on a small plate or clean bowl.
9. Once everyone has been cooked, pile up your plate (or bowl): first, the asparagus; second, the red bell pepper (I got fancy and tried to wrap my asparagus with the red bell pepper, but you don't have to do that); third, the poached egg; fourth, the slices of smoked salmon; last, but not least, spinkle on your desired amount of salt*, pepper and freshly chopped dill!

*Note: Smoked salmon is naturally very salty, so if you use any at all, I caution you to use very little!

This recipe is Paleo-friendly, Whole30-friendly if you use a fresh red bell pepper or if you make sure your jar/can of roasted red bell peppers doesn't have any additives, and 21DSD-friendly. Enjoy!

Salmon Loaf

A few weeks ago we made these awesome Basil Salmon Burgers from Loren Cordain's The Paleo Diet Cookbook, but we had so much basil-salmon mix that we chose to freeze some of it for a later date.

This weekend, I was feeling a bit creative and realized we could use the mix to make a salmon loaf. Why not, right? Toss in a little almond flour, some egg... shouldn't be too hard.

Basil Salmon Scrambled Eggs

Last night's dinner of basil salmon burgers was great, but we only made six patties because we knew we wanted to repurpose some of the salmon mixture. In order to enjoy this delicious recipe again next week, we froze most of the mixture but saved just a couple spoon-fulls in the fridge for breakfast this morning.

Basil Salmon Burgers

These burgers were a foray into salmon's uses; I've never strayed from broiling or grilling salmon, but I am pretty impressed with the digression.  

This recipe is from Loren Cordain's The Paleo Diet Cookbook and I strongly recommend it as a resource to anyone looking to bring more paleo cooking into their kitchen.  All of his resources are great, so check them out.