After the weekend marathon of eating out, we ate in.  After spending the entire day trying to be outside as much as possible (sunning, walking, dog-parking), we were hungry.  It wasn’t just the usual crowd, me and the roomies, it was a whole big family affair, including Rufus’ best dog friend, Luna, there to celebrate his first birthday.

We decided on a salmon recipe Stephanie had made before that was very successful.  Its hard to believe based on the amount of it I’ve eaten in the past week, but I actually just started to like fish a year ago.  I’ve been served it before and balked at its “fishiness” and ocean smell (I still don’t like the smell of raw fish) but never quite gave it a chance until last year at a staff retreat.  I had had a couple glasses of wine and felt adventurous and ordered my first restaurant fish.  I liked it, a lot.  I have to give credit to Alex for this transformation, he has been pushing me to eat it since we met (almost 6 years ago!).  

Swiss-Chard Wrapped Salmon with Quinoa

This recipe originates from Whole Foods, but is easily adapted to use other fish, chutneys, salsa, or grains.

Salmon (1/2 pound per person)

Swiss Chard (1 whole leaf per person)

Mango Chutney

Salt

Pepper

Olive Oil

Quinoa (1/4 cup dry per person)

crushing the chard spine

Preheat the oven to 425.  Get out a baking dish and brush olive oil on the bottom, set it aside while you prepare the chard.  Cut off the stems of each leaf and crush the spine of the leaf with a fork- this will make it easier to wrap.   Then, cut your salmon fillet into long equal slices.  Place it diagonally onto the chard, so the leaf completely covers the salmon.  Spoon the chutney onto the salmon.  Like I mentioned earlier, a mango salsa would also be lovely.  Salt and pepper the salmon, and wrap the chard leaf around it securely and place it in the dish.  Repeat for other salmon pieces. 

 We had six guests, so our salmon needed two pans to bake in, it’s ok if they are slightly crowded. 

Before you put these into the oven, prepare your quinoa.  Quinoa requires a 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water.  Pour both the quinoa and water into a saucepan, and bring to a boil.  Once the water starts boiling, cover the pot, and turn the heat down to a simmer.  This is the moment you should slide your trays of salmon into the oven to cook for 15 minutes.  Both the quinoa and the salmon should be ready at the same time. 

We had a lovely avocado, tomato, and pomegranate seed salad with a garlic balsamic avocado dressing.  I used the dressing to dress up my plates by drizzling it around the centerpiece of the salmon. 

This dish was a big hit among all the diners.  The adults were impressed with our cooking skills, which is always a huge compliment.  Definitely a recipe to repeat for guests or when you have a craving for salmon.