Lighten Up in the New Year with Salmon!

New Year's means New Year's Resolutions! Mine: post more awesome healthy recipes! So tune in weekly for some killer dishes to help keep you on track with any health oriented goals you may have set up for yourself for 2010. It's a new decade, might as well start it off right!
I figure we'll start strong with one of my favorite Salmon Recipes that has more health benefits than I can even list here! Here's the health breakdown:


Salmon- It's winter and none of us are getting enough sun, so none of us are getting enough Vitamin D, that vital nutrient for bone health...Enter Salmon. 3.5 oz of Salmon (approx size of a deck of cards) contains nearly 90% of your daily recommended intake. Salmon also gets great attention due to its high content of Omega-3 Fatty Acids. (We talked about these in my post about Flax ) Omega-3s are polyunsaturated fats- the good kind- that help fight heart disease, and help keep skin and joints healthy.

Tomato- It's become common knowledge that tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, but I'm sure we're all asking the same question here... why does that even matter? Lycopene, a carotenoid, may act as an antioxidant in the human body. There are studies linking lycopene consumption from tomatoes with decreased risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease, and macular degeneration. Tomatoes also contain high levels of Vitamin C, folate, & potassium.

Jalapeño- Capsaicin is the nutrient that gives all peppers their kick. The hotter the pepper, the higher the content of Capsaicin. This phytochemical has been shown to kill off prostate cancer cells in mice. Capsaicin can also help allieve a stuffy nose by stimulating secretions which help clear mucus from your nasal passage. On top of that, Capsaicin is known as an anti-inflammatory nutrient that can help with arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.

Seriously, I apologize for the length of this post but this is a great recipe. It's a variation of a recipe I saw in Cooking Light. Let me know what you think or if you have any suggestions for improvement :)


Salmon w Jalapeno, Tomato, & Red Onion Salsa
4 (6-ounce) skinless salmon fillets
1/2 Lemon
4 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 small red onion, chopped
1 jalapeño pepper, finely chopped
1 lime, divided
1/2 Clove Garlic
1 tsp Ginger

Season salmon with salt & pepper to taste and a spritz of lemon juice. Then in a covered non-stick skillet, saute for about 8 mins. Note: Salmon will continue cooking slightly when you take it out of the pan! Also good thing to know, when sauteing Salmon, heat the pan until a drop of water will sizzle on it then reduce heat to med-high and add Salmon, this will prevent the fish from sticking to the pan. When this is done cooking, place it on a dish and cover with tin-foil to keep warm.

While the salmon is sauteing, you can get started on your salsa! Grab another skillet and coat with olive oil. Bring stove top to med-high heat. Add garlic and saute 1 min, add ginger then saute another min. Add onion & jalepeno and saute for approx 6 mins. While this cooks you can check and see how your Salmon is coming along... Then add tomatos and saute for about 2 mins. Place salsa mixture in a small bowl and squeeze the juice of half the lime on top.

Plate the 4 Salmon filets and divide the salsa mixture over top. Serve w/ 1/2 c brown rice and garnish with a lime wedge. This meal is so delicious and the bright colors make it a real pick-me-up in the dark, cold winter!


http://www.sixwise.com/newsletters/06/03/29/capsaicin-7-powerful-health-benefits-of-the-stuff-that-makes-peppers-hot-004.htm
http://salmonfacts.org/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/lycopene/NS_patient-lycopene