Thursday 23 June 2011

It's not easy being green: Salmon and greens

First of all, apologies for the shoddy pictures - I can't find the camera charger anywhere so am resorting to iPhone apps to try and make my pictures slightly less dreadful.

I've been promising to make this for, oh I don't know - weeks now? Faithfully putting it in each Meal Planning Monday post, then something cropping up - be it a migraine, hospital, Guides - well, you get the picture. Anyway, since discoverint that I'm allergic to one of the meds I was being given for the migraines, life has been considerably quieter *touch wood* and I've been afforded the opportunity to finally make salmon and greens.

It's not the most exciting of recipe titles, it does what is says on the tine I suppose, without there being any tins involved. It's one of those meals I have as a refular midweek feature as it's quick and easy. Contrary to the jams and the breads of this world it asks and requires little of me - yet pays back much in flavour. When I'm feeling like I've overdone the chocolate or the ice cream, I have it by itself. When more sustenance is required I add brown basmati rice. I've successfully substituted the salmon for white fish (when I'm being particularly frugal, whatever is being sold off at the end of the day) and also chicken. Similarly when the kales, and spring greens aren't in season, I've successfully supplemented or replaced greens with brocolli, shredded savoy cabbage, or a bag of spinach briefly wilted. This is one of those dishes you can cook when the day has asked that bit too much of you. When your head is throbbing, when work is stressful, when it's still only Wednesday these are the times that you need something that can be eaten from a bowl, something that feels healthy but still has flavour. I think there's nothing so sad as trying to be healthy and finding what you're eating tastes of cardboard.

So Salmon and greens - again it's one of those recipes that's evolved and I'm not sure where it came from - it's definitely not a recipe book, so it's entirely possible it was in a magazine, or even my own head.

2 gloves garlic chopped finely
Thumb sized piece of root ginger grated (I don't peel ginger, just grate it with a microplane *lazy*)
1 red chilli (or to taste) finely chopped
2 salmon fillets, skinned (Pantry tip: the easiest way to do this is to put the salmon, skin side down on a chopping board, at one end of the fillet the skin will seem slightly thicker and with a sharp knife you'll be able to prize it away. Wiggle your knife in a gentle sawing motion - keeping the blade flat - and the skin will come away from the fish easily. If I ever find out how to upload a video I'll show this, as people always seem to struggle with fish and I've been eating and cooking it since weaning so tend to forget that other people weren't peeling prawns before they could walk)
1 head of spring greens, or a similar quantity (about 6 handfuls or so?) of green vegetables, rinsed and shredded.
60ml/ 4 tablespoons dark soy sauce
The same of water
125ml sherry

Mix up the sherry, water and soy sauce with the garlic, chilli & ginger

Pour half of this over the fish - I chop the fish into finger sized bits - and cover with clingfilm. I tend to leave this for a while if I'm working from home, or if I've just come back from a hellish commute and need to eat I don't bother with leaving it to stand.

Either heat up a non stick pan so that when you hold your hand about 6 inches away from the base you can feel warmth, or oil a wok or similar and heat up.

Put the fish in it's marinade and cook quickly stirring until it's just about done - I cook it through until the finger sized pieces start to flake. The marinade/ sauce will bubble away - this is fine.

Add your veg and pour over the rest of the sauce whilst stirring until it's all wilted down (when I've used broccoli I steamed it lightly first). I recently got a fantastic tip for cooking greens from Helen at Fuss Free Flavours, to cook greens, put them in a colander and put the colander in a bowl, pour over a kettle of hot water - this starts the wilting process so they cook faster, and I find - stay greener.

Serve with rice, or not, as you like. In a bowl. Eat. Not like this...

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