Salmon Steak with Quinoa Mint and Feta salad

A while ago a good friend of ours made an amazing salad.  My socks were literally blown off by how amazingly good it was - it tasted fresh and fulfilling and I wanted more.  Unfortunately he can't remember what went into it in order to give me the recipe.  So I have come up with my own version. Tada!

I remember quinoa, mint and feta.  The rest I've come up with to try to fill in what I think would work - and we got to use mint and flat leaf parsely from our balcony herb garden which was lovely.  I may post about our herb garden at some point because we have tried a few different methods and have finally found a method which is really working well.

Welcome to my delicious Thursday night feast.  I decided to pair it with a baked ginger and garlic salmon for night one, so have included the salmon in the recipe - it worked a treat.  On night two we had it with steak, and on night three we had it with chicken breast rolled in Greek Yiros seasoning and some blanched broccoli with slivered almonds.  It was gorgeous every time.  This is going to be a regular in our household.

Ingredients

Salmon
2 Salmon steaks
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tsp olive oil
Serves 2

Salad
100g feta, crumbled
1 cup tri-colour quinoa, rinsed
2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup mint leaves, torn
1/4 cup flat leaf parsley leaves, torn
1/4 cup almond flakes
1/8 cup sunflower seeds
4 shallots, sliced thinly on the diagonal
12 snow peas, sliced julienne
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Serves 4-6 depending on serving size

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celcius/356 degrees Farenheit
2. Combine olive oil, garlic and ginger.  
3. Place salmon steaks in a baking tray on a bed of baking paper.  Top the salmon with the garlic, ginger and olive oil mix, spread evenly.  Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked (times may vary depending on your oven)
4. Meanwhile, bring the chicken stock to the boil in a medium saucepan.  Add the quinoa, pop the lid on, reduce the heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until absorbed.   Turn off the heat and rest for 5 minutes, fluffing with a fork.
5. Combine the quinoa, snowpeas, shallots, nuts, seeds, feta and herbs.  Stir to combine.  Season with salt and pepper and dress with olive oil and lemon juice.
6. Serve and enjoy!  

   

   This is so good.  Granted - the ginger/garlic mix on the salmon
   isn't the prettiest but trust me it tastes gooooood.

Our Take Aways

Yum yum yum yum yum.  The leftovers will keep in the fridge for a few days, covered with gladwrap.  It tastes good both warm and cold.  I recommend re-dressing with a squeeze of lemon juice on successive nights.