Tamari Salmon and Vegetable Stir Fry with Peanut Dressing

Stir fry is a go-to recommendation for my clients who have limited time and need to get more plants in their diet. This recipe, combined with super nutritious, omega-3-rich wild salmon, is a force of nutrients to be reckoned with (that is ready in 20 minutes). Don’t worry if you don’t have all the exact ingredients – another great thing about stir fry is that you can put just about any vegetable in it and it will taste great. All I ask is that you include at least 5 different varieties. I also recommend including the bean sprouts, as in this recipe, they substitute what would have been noodles.

When it comes to the fish, I recommend sourcing wild salmon instead of farmed as much as possible. Farmed salmon tends to be fed on processed foods and is often medicated or treated with antibiotics, which contribute to making a less health-promoting choice than wild. It is also more likely to content higher levels of organic pollutants from the water such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) with comparison studies showing these to be 5 times higher in farmed fish versus wild.

This recipe would also work well with trout or a white fish like cod or seabass. Nevertheless, if you are able to include a portion of omega-3-rich oily fish in your diet at least twice, if not 3 times a week, that would be a good goal.

TOTAL TIME: 20 minutes

SERVES: 2

SEASON: All year around

INGREDIENTS:

2 fillets of wild salmon

Tamari sauce (gluten free)

2 tbsp fresh grated ginger

Chilli flakes

2 cloves garlic

1 red onion

¼ red cabbage

½ head of broccoli

1 red pepper

300g fresh bean sprouts

1 small can of bamboo shoots

Salt

Coconut oil for frying

Sesame seeds (optional)

For the peanut sauce:

3 tbsp peanut butter

2 tbsp tamari (gluten free) / reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice

3 tbsp filtered water

1 tsp turmeric powder

1 clove garlic

1 tsp freshly grated ginger

1 tsp honey

Pinch salt

METHOD:

1. Place the salmon fillets in a bowl and combine with 2 tbsp tamari sauce, 1 tbsp fresh grated ginger, a sprinkle of chilli flakes (amount depending on how hot you like it) and mix together thoroughly, allowing to sit for 5-10 minutes (or you could marinade for much longer if you have the time).

2. Wash and finely slice all the vegetables (apart from bamboo shoots and bean sprouts) and crush or finely chop the garlic.

3. If you are making the peanut sauce, do this before you start cooking anything as both the salmon and veg will cook very quickly. For the sauce, add all the ingredients apart from the salt to a blender and blitz. Try the sauce before adding the salt to get an idea of how much you need. Add the salt and blend again then leave to one side.

4. To cook the salmon, heat a tbsp of coconut oil (or butter if you prefer) in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once the coconut oil is fully melted, add the salmon fillets to the pan, skin-side-down, and fry for 3 minutes until crisp. Flip the fillets over, lower the heat and cook for another 3 minutes until just cooked through.

5. While the salmon is cooking, take a large separate pan or wok and heat up some more coconut oil over a medium heat. Add the sliced onion for a minute or so before adding the red cabbage, broccoli, red pepper, garlic, 1 tbsp fresh ginger and 1/2 tsp chilli flakes. Stir fry for about 2 minutes then add the bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and a nice glug of Tamari sauce. Stir fry for another 2-3 minutes then serve with the salmon.

6. Drizzle the peanut dressing liberally on top of your dish and sprinkle on a few sesame seeds to finish (optional).