Salmon with Orange Vinaigrette
and rice / spinach salad
This recipe is a seasonal twist on a recipe we featured first in summer of 2017. Tart orange vinaigrette doubles as both a marinade and salad dressing.
Ingredients
- Shallots - 1 clove, diced
- Orange juice - 1/4 cup (fresh squeezed or store-bought)
- Vinegar, red wine - 2 Tbsp
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 1 Tbsp
- Mustard, Dijon - 2 tsp
- Honey - 2 tsp
- Oil, olive - 1/4 cup
- Rice, uncooked white or brown - 2/3 cup
- Salmon - 1 lb
- Orange Vinaigrette (ingredients listed separately) - ~1/3 cup
- Cucumbers - 8 oz, diced
- Avocados - 1, diced
- Baby spinach - 6 oz
- Pepitas / pumpkin seeds - 1/2 cup
- Orange Vinaigrette (ingredients listed separately) - ~1/3 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Rice - (Double if making Thursday night's meal.) For white rice, rinse until clear. Fill a saucepan or Dutch oven (or rice cooker) with rice, water (use 2:1 ratio for water to rice), and some salt. Cover with lid and bring to a boil. Once water boils, stir, lower heat to a low-medium, and cover. Check white rice after ~20 min; brown at ~45 min. Rice is done when it's absorbed all the water. If it's not done, leave the cover on until all water has been absorbed. Take cover off to release steam and fluff with a wooden spoon after 5 minutes. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Make orange vinaigrette - Dice shallots. Combine with orange juice, vinegar, soy sauce, mustard, and honey. Whisk in olive oil. Season with some salt. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Marinate salmon - Rinse salmon and pat dry. Place in a baking dish and pour vinaigrette (portion for the salmon, reserve portion for salad) over top, turning salmon to coat. Cover baking dish with plastic wrap and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Cucumbers / Avocados - Prep as directed.
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Make
- If cooking on a grill: Heat grill to 500F / 260C degrees. Brush grates with some oil. Place salmon, skinless-side down, on hot oiled grill grates (discard marinade). Flip salmon after 4 to 5 minutes (if you oiled the grates and started them off hot, the salmon will release without sticking). Season salmon with some salt and pepper. Continue cooking for another 3 to 5 minutes with the lid closed until salmon easily flakes with a fork.
- If cooking in the oven: Heat oven to 425F / 218C degrees. Roast salmon directly in pan with marinade until it flakes easily with a fork, 12 to 18 minutes depending on thickness (1” / 2.5 cm should take about 14 minutes). Season salmon with some salt and pepper.
- When salmon is nearly finished, toss together spinach, cucumbers, avocados, and pepitas. Add orange vinaigrette (portion for the salad) until dressed to your liking.
- Reheat rice if made ahead (reserve half if doubled).
- Serve salmon over rice with salad on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
26 reviews
This was delicious! I used fresh squeezed oj for the vinaigrette and then used the blender to emulsify it. I also added tomatoes and homemade croutons to the salad since I didn't have pepitas. Other than that followed the recipe.
0 HelpfulThis was so good that I ate two servings within a couple hours of each other. Marinated the salmon overnight and added salt & pepper to marinade since other reviews said it was bland. Sprinkled more salt & pepper on salmon before putting in oven. It came out perfect and very flavorful. Loved the simple sides too!
0 HelpfulDelicious. I made double the marinade and poured most of it over the salmon in the dish I put in the oven.
0 Helpful