I got the idea for today’s recipe after buying a bag of mini cucumbers on sale at my corner grocer and trying to figure out what to do with them.
My first thought was to use some in tabbouleh, a Middle Eastern-style, bulgar-based, parsley/herb-rich salad with bits of such things as tomatoes and cucumber.
I did end up making that style of salad, but did not have any bulger. I did have quinoa and canned cannellini (white kidney) beans in my pantry, however, so I decided to use them as the base for what I called a quinoa and bean salad that I accented with the ingredients noted above — all except one of them.
That ingredient, oddly enough, was cucumber. I left it out of the salad because I thought it would work better in a topping for the salmon fillets I would serve with that salad.
To prepare the fish, I set the fillets on a baking sheet and brushed them with an olive-oil mixture spiced with ground cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper. I later topped the flavourful salmon with a refreshing combination of thinly sliced mini cucumbers tossed with yogurt, lemon juice and honey.
The salmon and cucumbers both married well with my quinoa and bean salad and created a light and appealing spring dinner. It also offered good nutrition, with the salmon, mix of vegetables, quinoa and beans offering such things as omega-3 fatty acids, a mix of vitamins, protein, fibre, iron and other minerals.
My recipe serves four, but if you were only feeding two, you could easily make half the recipe amounts for the salmon and yogurt-tossed cucumbers. But I would leave the recipe amounts for the quinoa and bean salad the same and enjoy the leftovers the next day or two.
Salmon with Yogurt, Cucumbers and Quinoa Bean Salad
B.C. salmon fillets, nicely spiced, are baked and served with tangy, yogurt-tossed cucumbers and a nutritious, Mediterranean-style quinoa and bean salad.
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 28 to 30 minutes
Makes: Four servings
For quinoa bean salad
1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
3 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 (14 oz/398 mL) can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained well, rinsed and drained well again (see Eric’s options)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1⁄4 cup coarsely chopped fresh oregano, mint or basil
10 to 12 cherry tomatoes, each quartered
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
• pinch of ground cayenne pepper
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
For cucumbers
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp honey
• pinch ground cayenne pepper
• salt and ground white pepper, to taste
2 cups thinly sliced mini cucumbers (about 3 to 4 mini cucumbers)
For salmon and to serve
4 (5 to 6 oz./140 to 170 gram) sockeye, steelhead or other salmon fillets
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• pinch ground cayenne pepper
• salt and ground white pepper, to taste
• lemon slices and fresh oregano, mint or basil sprigs, for garnish
Place quinoa and water in a small pot and bring to a boil. Cover, lower heat to medium-low, and cook, undisturbed, 15 minutes, or until quinoa is tender and the water has evaporated. Spoon quinoa into a mixing bowl and cool to room temperature.
When quinoa has cooled, add the 3 Tbsp olive oil, lemon zest, 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice, cannellini beans, parsley, oregano (or mint or basil), tomatoes, garlic, cumin, coriander, cayenne, salt and pepper. Mix this quinoa and bean salad well, and then cover and refrigerate until needed. It can be made many hours in advance.
To prepare cucumbers, place the yogurt, 2 tsp lemon juice, honey, cayenne and salt and ground white pepper in a second bowl. Add the cucumbers and toss to combine. Cover and refrigerate cucumbers until needed.
To cook the salmon, preheat oven to 425 F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set on the salmon fillets, skin side down. Combine the 1 Tbsp olive oil, 1/2 tsp cumin, paprika and cayenne in a small bowl. Brush some of that mixture on each salmon fillet. Season the salmon with salt and pepper. Roast salmon 10 to 12 minutes, or until just cooked through. While the salmon bakes, mix the quinoa and bean salad again, taste it, and adjusting the seasoning, if needed.
When salmon is cooked, set a piece on one side of each of four dinner plates. Set some of the quinoa and bean salad on the other side of each plate. Top each piece of salmon with some of the cucumbers. Garnish each plate some lemon slices and oregano (or mint or basil) sprigs, and serve.
Eric’s options: If you want to use dried cannellini beans to make the salad, a 1/2 cup of them, when soaked and simmered until tender, should yield the 1 1/3 cups of drained, canned beans used in the recipe.
Eric Akis is the author of eight cookbooks. His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
