Salmon with Lentil and Golden Beet Salad
Salmon is one of those things that you either love or hate. I have heard from so many people that love salmon say that they won’t cook it at home because it makes their entire home smell of fish. Ewww! Unfortunately, salmon does tend to stink up the kitchen while cooking, but I’m going to show you a way to cook salmon that I swear it won’t make the entire kitchen smell fishy!
This salmon is baked with fresh herbs, dijon mustard and lemon slices. It is cooked to perfection and the clean up is even easier! A foolproof way to cook salmon without the intense smell!
The Preparation of this Salmon and Lentil Salad Dish
For this dish, the salmon will sit on top of a lentil and beet salad that has orange segments and dill. This is a very unique salad that is packed with flavor and color! It is such a fun change up from a regular salad. The dressing is simple and if you make extra, you can have it in other salads, because it is so fantastic.
This is how I made this baked salmon with lentil beet salad
For the golden beets
Preheat the oven to 400°.
Wash the beets thoroughly and cut off the tops and the bottom. Drizzle a little olive oil on each beet and wrap them separately in aluminum foil.
Bake the beets for 1 hour. Do not peak in! Let the heat do it’s thing!
After the hour is over, remove the beets from the aluminum foil and peel them. The skin will fall off so easily, that you can scrape the skin by using a knife to brush it off. Be careful as the beets will be very hot.
Tip! The skin falls so easily, you can even scrape it off using the same aluminum foil. (I do it in the video)
Slice the beets and allow them to cool for 5 minutes or so before adding them to the lentils.
For the lentil salad
Drain and rinse the cans of lentils. Put the lentils in a bowl.
Add the radishes.
To cut the segments out of the orange, cut the top and bottom of the oranges. Cut the peel off all around the orange, then cut the segment right at the line where the segments are divided on both sides.
Bonus! Cut each segment over the bowl with the lentils… the dripping juice of the orange will add extra flavor to the salad.
Add the scallions and 1/2 tablespoon of dill.
Add the slightly cooled beets.
Mix in all the ingredients.
Tip! If the beets are still slightly warm, they will absorb the vinaigrette nicely!
For the vinaigrette
In a jar, add the extra virgin olive oil, orange vinegar, finely chopped garlic clove, 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard, honey, salt, and pepper. Mix well so the ingredients come together into a creamy vinaigrette.
Pour 1-2 tablespoons of the dressing into the lentil salad. Combine well.
For the salmon
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Drizzle some olive oil and place the salmon on the baking sheet.
Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Add 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard to each salmon piece.
Chop the 2 remaining scallions, the rest of the dill and italian parsley very finely.
Spread the mustard and add the herbs to cover the entire surface of the salmon fillets. Place 3-4 lemon slices on top of the herb mixture.
For a medium-well cooked salmon, bake the salmon for 20 minutes in a 400° oven. For a medium rare salmon, 15 minutes will do.
Serve the salad on the bottom of a big wide plate, serve the salmon right on top of the salad. Drizzle more vinaigrette oven the salmon and the salad.
Enjoy!
Baked Salmon with Lentil and Golden Beet Salad
Equipment
- Baking sheet
Ingredients
- 4 6 oz slices of salmon filet skin on or off, to your preference
- 3 teaspoons dijon mustard
- 3 lemons sliced thinly
- 3 tablespoon flat leaf italian parsely chopped finely
- 1 1/2 tablespoon dill chopped finely
- 5 scallions 3 for the salad, 2 for the salmon
- 2 14oz cans of lentils
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 small garlic clove finely minced
- 2 tablespoons orange vinegar
- 2 whole oranges
- 3 radishes chopped in small sticks or squares
Instructions
For the roasted golden beets:
- Preheat the oven to 400° .
- Wash the golden beets well and cut off the tops and bottoms.
- Drizzle olive oil oven the beets and wrap in aluminum foil.
- Place in a small baking sheet and cook for 1 hour.
- When the beets are cooked, remove the skin. It will fall off easily, you can scrape it with a knife or even the aluminum foil it was baked in.
For the salad:
- While the golden beets cook, drain and rinse the lentils.
- Place the lentils in a bowl.
- Add the radishes, I cut them into thin sticks.
- Add the orange segments. To get the segments out of the orange, peel the entire skin of the orange, including the white pith. Cut the segments by cutting right at the line where each segment is separated. With a sharp knife, separate the segment from the fiber of the orange. Do this on top of the lentils mixture, and the juices from the orange will add extra flavor.
- Chop 2 scallions using both the white and the green part. Chop 1 tablespoon of dill and add both herbs to the lentil mixture.
- Add 1-2 tablespoons of the vinaigrette to the salad and mix well.
For the vinaigrette:
- In a jar or dressing mixing container, add the extra virgin olive oil.
- Add the orange vinegar.
- Add 1 teaspoon of dijon mustard.
- Add 1 tablespoon of honey.
- Add the finely minced garlic clove.
- Season with salt and pepper.
For the salmon:
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Drizzle olive oil and place the salmon pieces on top of the drizzles olive oil.
- Season each piece of salmon with salt and pepper.
- Add 1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard to each piece of salmon.
- Chop 2 scallions, the flat leaf parsely and 1/2 tablespoon of dill.
- Spread the mustard all over the top of each salmon and sprinkle the herbs to cover the entire top of each fillet.
- Cover the herbs with the lemon slices.
- Bake the salmon in the 400° oven for 20 minutes for a medium well filet.
Plating:
- Serve the salad on a plate and serve a salmon piece on top of the salad.
- Drizzle extra vinaigrette on top of the salad and the salmon.
- Enjoy!