Description
Every year, I have to have this spring quinoa salad with roast salmon at least once. There’s crunchy snap peas, persian cucumbers, and mint in the salad, and I pair it with the easiest but seriously most delicious roast salmon ever.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 cup dry quinoa
- 8 ounces snap peas, cut into small pieces
- 3 Persian cucumbers, diced
- 1/2 bunch mint (about 1/4 cup chopped)
- 1 jalapeno, diced (optional)
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
For the roast vegetables:
- 2 parsnips, roll cut into 1/2” by 2” long bias pieces
- 1 carrot, peeled and roll cut similar to the parsnips
- 4 radish bulbs, quartered
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the salmon:
- 24 ounces salmon
- 1 stalk of scallions, sliced thinly on a bias
- 1/2 bunch mint, chopped
- 2 tablespooons fresh dill, optional
- 2 tablespoons mayo
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- Zest of 1 lemon
Instructions
For the quinoa salad:
- Cook the quinoa according to package instructions. Typically, add 1 cup of dry quinoa and 2 cups of water to a small pot. Bring to a boil, add a pinch of salt, cover, lower the heat to the lowest setting, and cook for 15 minutes.
- While the quinoa is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Slice the snap peas, dice the cucumbers, chop the mint, and dice the jalapeno.
- Once the quinoa is cooked, transfer it to a large bowl. Fluff with a spatula, then add the chopped vegetables, mint, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
- Taste the salad and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve and enjoy!
For the roasted spring vegetables:
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Prep the spring vegetables – peel the carrots and roll cut into ½” wide by 2” long pieces. Add this to the baking sheet.
- Roll cut the parsnips and quarter the radishes. Add these to a baking sheet as well and toss everything with kosher salt, black pepper, and olive oil. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the vegetables are nice and tender, then remove and set aside.
For the salmon:
- Prep the aromatics – slice the scallions, dill, and mint.
- Place the salmon filets on the parchment-lined baking sheet and generously season both sides of the fish with kosher salt and pepper.
- Spread mayo evenly on top of the salmon filets. Sprinkle the sliced scallions and grate fresh lemon zest over the top of the fish.
- Bake at 425°F for 15-20 minutes. If using only 1 pound of salmon, cook for 10 minutes. Check the fish with a meat thermometer and cook until the thickest part reaches 135°F.
- Once the fish is cooked, grate more lemon zest and sprinkle the remaining mint and dill on top. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice over the top and serve immediately.
Notes
- You can keep this filet whole and just use a fork or spoon to flake off a portion when you serve it.
- The cooking time on your salmon may vary based on the thickness and quantity. If you’re using a thin piece of salmon (~1” thick), check it after 10 minutes. If you’re using a filet of salmon that is 1.5 – 2” thick and 24 ounces in weight like the recipe calls for, it will likely need 15-20 minutes. I always check for doneness of salmon by using a meat thermometer and checking the internal temperature at the thickest part for 135F.
- You can make this vegetarian by using portobello mushrooms instead of salmon. I did this for the supper club and IT WAS DELISH! Yes – still just coat the mushrooms in mayo, and it’ll develop delicious crust.
- If cooking quinoa the “rice method” like how I describe below freaks you out, you can boil it like pasta. Bring a large pot of water up to a boil, salt, and then add your quinoa. Cook for 12-14 minutes, taste, then drain and rinse until cool. I actually used this method for cooking a large batch of it for the supper club since I didn’t want to risk having mushy quinoa (and this tends to happen with large batches of grains).
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Category: American
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American