This quinoa bowl is so good, I’ve eaten it for breakfast, lunch and dinner – just not in the same day cos that’d probably be a little excessive. The yoghurt sauce with the vegetable studded quinoa, creamy avocado and crispy skinned salmon is such a great combination. The key to this dish is seasoning with lemon, it means you can use less salt and still bring out the flavour of the food.

I love to eat fish, especially salmon, and it’s so good for you. You can probably tell this by the excessive amount of salmon recipes on the blog (Lime and Black Pepper Salmon, Salmon Soba Bowl, Crispy Skinned Salmon Salad, Chipotle Salmon Tacos, Salmon Soba Salad, 15 Minute Pesto Baked Salmon, Tandoori Salmon and so many more that it’s actually time for a new fish next week!). Eating foods like salmon that are rich in healthy omega 3 fats is great for your skin, hair and brain. That last one is super important to me because there’s nothing more demotivating than a sluggish brain right? And my brain is feeling extra sluggish this week after having far too much fun at a friend’s hens on the weekend!

The best thing about this meal is not just how good for you it is – and it’s ticking all the boxes with healthy fats, protein, complex carbs, a good variety of different plant foods (those are my favourite boxes). It’s also not just how good it tastes – it’s seriously yum with lots of lemon  and tangy yoghurt and crispy skin going on. The best thing is how stupidly easy it is to make. You just need to be capable of cooking quinoa and following the simple instructions below for some medium rare salmon. The rest is just grating and chopping things, and you can do that even with a sluggish brain.

It also looks impressive enough to serve to your mates and you won’t get all frazzled in the kitchen. If you’re serving more than 2 just double or triple the recipe. if you want to be more economical or are worried about calorie/ fat intake simple going with a samll piece of salmon each.

Serves 2

Ingredients

1/3 cup quinoa, I used tri colour

2 x 100-150g Salmon fillets (serving size is totally up to your hunger level)

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon, zested and cut in half

1 zucchini, finely grated

3 cups spinach, roughly chopped

1/3 cup finely sliced spring onion

3 Tbs finely chopped parsley

1/2 an avocado, finely sliced

1 lebanese cucumber, diced

1/3 cup greek or plain yoghurt

Directions

Rinse quinoa well and place in a pot with 2/3 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Cover and bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer and cook for 12 minutes. Turn the heat off and allow to stand, covered for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the yoghurt with 1 Tbs spring onion, 1 Tbs parsley, a pinch of lemon zest and a squeeze of lemon until well combined.

Season salmon with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice. Heat the oil in a non stick pan on medium high heat, once hot place the salmon skin side down. Cook for 4-5 minutes and then turn and cook for a further 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Remove from the pan. Add the spinach to the pan and cook for 1 minute or until wilted.

Mix the spinach, the remaining spring onion and parsley, the grated zucchini, lemon zest and the quinoa together. Add a squeeze of lemon and then divide amongst bowl.

Place the cucumber, avocado and salmon fillets on top of the quinoa mix and add a generous dollop of yoghurt sauce. Season the bowl with salt, pepper and another squeeze of lemon.

HH. x