Yuzu Salmon Over Farro

This is a simplistic yet elegant dinner, easy enough to make on a busy weeknight. With only one method of cooking and a few basic ingredients you will be ready to start making your dinner. This recipe uses a store-bought marinade that is on the sweeter side called Bachans, Yuzu Japanese Barbecue Sauce. There is 7g of added sugar in 1T keep in mind you do not need a lot to make this dish work. The bulk of its ingredients are organically sourced according to their ingredient list and are non-GMO.

Farro is an important part of this meal. Adding whole grains to our diets provide protein, fiber, B vitamins calcium, iron, and vitamin E (Lair 2016). It adds a litany of benefits to our lives from reducing chances of type 2 diabetes, lowering cholesterol, and decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease and protecting against some cancers (The Nutrition Source, 2019).  With 10-minute farro it is easy to add this to your meal. In the interest of keeping this recipe simple, you can even cook it in the oven. In this case I used a whole package or 10-minute farro in a 8×8 baking dish and added 3 cups of water hot water with a few dashes of salt. You will end up draining a little water from that dish.

The main feature of the dish is of course the Salmon. Wild caught is a personal favorite but both wild and farmed salmon are safe to eat and offer Omega 3 fatty acids, calcium and, vitamins A (Crichton-Stuart 2018). Cover the bottom of a baking dish with olive oil and simply place thawed or fresh salmon in a different baking dish from the farro. Add around 1/3 c of the yuzu sauce to the top of the salmon. If you would like you can add sliced onions and or garlic to the top of the salmon too.

Adding your choice of colorful vegetables to the salmon baking dish adds a visual treat. Mini brussels sprouts work perfectly here as the green against the salmon is quite striking. Brussels sprouts also provide vitamin C and K, folate, beta carotene and fiber. If you choose another vegetable just remember to cut them small enough so they will cook in the oven in 12-15 minutes. As a reference the mini brussels sprouts are about the size of a large blueberry.  Also added to the top of the salmon was sliced onions and young, fresh garlic but those are optional additions.

After cleaning and dicing your choice vegetable and placing them on top of the salmon your dishes are ready to place in the oven on 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes. When you remove the farro there will probably be a little extra water. That can be strained with a strainer. After that step you can add the farro to the salmon dish around the salmon and vegetables or plate the farro topping it was a slice of salmon and the vegetables.

Yuzu Salmon over Farro

Yield: 6 servings                 Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 12-15 min       Total time: 30 min

INGREDIENTS

• 1 salmon filet
• 1 package of 10-minute farro
• 1c of diced or small vegetables
• 1/2 c of Barchans yuzu sauce
• Optional onion and garlic

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place salmon in a baking dish covered with olive oil.
3. Top the salmon with the yuzu sauce, diced vegetables and if you choose to add the optional onions and garlic too.
4. Place the farro in a separate baking dish and 3 cups of very hot water with a few dashes of salt.
5. Place both the farro dish and the salmon dish in the oven for 10- 15 minutes depending on the thickness of the salmon. The salmon should be flakey and a lighter shade of pink then when it was raw. The internal temperature should be 135 degrees.
6. Remove both dishes after 12-15 minutes and strain the extra water from the farro
7. Plate the farro first and top it with the salmon and vegetables. Take a little extra of the yuzu sauce and lightly top the vegetables and farro with it.  

Reference

Crichton-Stuart, K. (2018, Aug. 22). What is the Difference Between Wild and Farmed Salmon. Medical News Today. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/322847

The Nurition Source. (2019). Whole Grains. The Nutrition Source.

Whole Grains

Lair, C. (2016) Feeding the Whole Family: Cooking With Whole Food: More than 200 Meals for Babies, Young Children and Their Parents. Sasquatch Books