Easy balanced lunch is what we want
I just love a recipe where only a few ingredients make a meal with balanced macros and a ton of micronutrients too. These days it's really important to maintain a healthy and balanced diet (being stuck in isolation makes it a little too easy to eat badly!), but keeping prep time to a minimum is always a plus.
And anything I can stick in the oven is perfect when you have a toddler to entertain. All that makes salmon a perfect ingredient for me.
With just 10 mins more prep time, pasta makes an easy side.
Salmon Spinach Pasta Nutritional Stuff
Salmon is one of the best kinds of fish you can get. It's a great omega-3 source and should be a part of every diet if you eat fish. It's packed with healthy fats, protein, and lots of fat-soluble vitamins (like vitamin E which is also an antioxidant).
Spinach is a great veggie that can be used both fresh/raw and frozen in numerous dishes because of its neutral taste. It's filled with minerals such as iron, potassium, and magnesium but also vitamins A, C, and folate.
We often use goat's cheese in our recipes because it's a little more easily digested than cow's cheese but also provides a fair amount of protein, fat, and calcium.
Whole wheat pasta is a good complex carb and fiber source which also provides nutrients such as manganese and iron.
Olive oil is our favorite choice of extra healthy fats.
Salmon Spinach Pasta Preparation Tips
If you're worried about iron intake, I would suggest omitting the goat's cheese from this recipe. Dairy can interfere in iron absorption from the spinach.
Otherwise, keep the cheese, but feel free to substitute it with another cheese of your choice if preferred.
If you don't have salmon, you can use another fish, but look for an oily one for the omega-3 content. However, try to choose the ones with a lower amount of mercury (click here if you're not sure which ones those are).
What's your favorite fish?
Salmon Spinach Pasta
Ingredients
- 1 oz salmon fillet
- ½ cup whole wheat pasta uncooked
- 1 cup spinach leaves raw
- 2 tbsp goat's cheese shredded
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ¼ garlic clove
Seasonings (optional)
- 1 tsp lemon juice for salmon
- ½ tsp mixed herbs (oregano, marjoram, thyme, basil etc) for salmon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C / 390°F
- Put the salmon on a baking tray and season with mixed herbs and lemon juice.
- Bake for about 12 minutes until fully cooked through.
- In the meantime, cook the pasta in boiling water on the stove
- Steam the spinach for about 1-2 minutes and blend into a puree with a little water (add a little garlic and salt if desired).
- Once finished, allow to cool before mixing the spinach and pasta, serving beside the salmon and sprinkling with shredded goat cheese
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