Grilled Salmon with Orange Vinaigretteand quinoa / watermelon and feta arugula salad
This fresh, citrusy meal was first featured in 2017. In the former version we served the salmon and salad with bulgur, but this time we're using quinoa.
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
- Quinoa, uncooked - 3/4 cup
- Stock, any type - 1 1/2 cups
- Salmon - 1 lb
- Orange Vinaigrette (ingredients listed separately) - ~1/3 cup
- Watermelon, seedless - 10 oz, cubed
- Mint, fresh - 1 Tbsp, finely chopped
- Orange Vinaigrette (ingredients listed separately) - ~1/3 cup
- Arugula - 5 oz
- Cheese, feta (opt) - 3 oz, crumbled
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Quinoa - (Double if making Thursday night’s meal.) Combine quinoa with stock in a saucepan. Add some salt. Bring to a boil covered. Lower heat, keep covered, and cook until liquid is absorbed, 8 to 10 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. (Can be done up to 5 days ahead)
- Marinate salmon - (If prepping right before cooking get grill / oven heating when salmon is nearly finished marinating.) Rinse salmon and pat dry. Place in a baking dish and pour vinaigrette (just the portion for the salmon) over top, turning salmon to coat. Cover baking dish and marinate for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 day. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
- Watermelon / Mint - Prep as directed. Store separately. (Can be done 1 day ahead)
Make
- If cooking on a grill: Heat grill to 500F / 260C degrees. Brush grates with some oil. Discard marinade and season salmon with some salt and pepper. Place salmon, skinless-side down, on hot grates. Flip salmon after 4 to 5 minutes (if you oiled the grates and they were very hot, the salmon should release without sticking). Continue cooking for another 3 to 5 minutes with the lid closed until salmon flakes easily with a fork.
- If cooking in the oven: Heat oven to 425F / 218C degrees. Season the top of the salmon with some salt and pepper. Roast salmon directly in the pan with marinade until it flakes easily with a fork, 12 to 18 minutes depending on thickness (1” / 2 1/2 cm should take about 14 minutes).
- Toss remaining orange vinaigrette (portion for the salad) with arugula, watermelon, mint, and crumbled feta.
- If you made the quinoa ahead and would like it warm, reheat in the microwave (reserve half if doubled).
- Serve salmon over quinoa with salad on the side. Enjoy!
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Reviews
This meal has 27 reviews
Grilling was the way to go on this one!
This far exceeded our expectations! Absolutely delicious in every way yet so healthy! The only change we made is adding tomatoes to the salad and eating the melon for afters. Yum!
Liked the salad a lot! Salmon was a bit bland
Meh
Very tasty meal! I didn’t want to buy a whole watermelon so I added some strawberries and blueberries to the salad instead. I forgot to grease the baking pan before putting the vinaigrette in so the sugar in the orange juice baked onto the pan, but it was very good and I’d be happy to make this again.
My fourth meal with cooksmarts. Cooked salmon on stove top with cast iron grill skillet. Turned out perfect. First time ever eating Quinoa. Cooking just right. Tasted great. Learning to cook at home has restored my appetite.