Salmon with Orange-Ginger Sauce
couscous salad with bell peppers and almonds
The sweet and tart orange-ginger sauce used to top this oven-roasted salmon also makes a flavorful dressing for a side salad with couscous and arugula.
Ingredients
- Salmon - 1 lb
- Lime - 1, zest and juice of
- Ginger, fresh - 1 inch, grated
- Orange juice (store-bought or fresh-squeezed) - 2 cups
- Yogurt, Greek or plain (opt) - 1/2 cup
- Mustard, dijon - 1 tsp
- Cumin, ground - 1/4 tsp
- Red pepper flakes (opt) - 1/4 tsp
- Oil, cooking - 1 Tbsp
- Couscous (enough for 2 nights) - 2 cups
- Water - 1 cup
- Orange juice (store-bought or fresh-squeezed) - 2 cups
- Butter - 3 Tbsp
- Bell peppers, red - 1, thinly sliced
- Arugula (sub chopped baby spinach or mixed greens) - 3 oz
- Almonds, sliced - 1/4 cup
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make couscous - (If prepping right before cooking, preheat the oven as described in Make Step #1 before returning to this step.) This makes enough for Tuesday's dinner. Heat the water and orange juice (just the portion for the couscous) in a saucepan until boiling. Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the couscous and cover with a lid. Allow to sit, covered for 10 minutes. Add butter and fluff couscous with two forks until butter is melted. Season with some salt and pepper. Reserve half for Tuesday. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Slice bell peppers. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Salmon - Rinse and dry fish. Lightly salt and pepper. Zest lime and scatter zest over the top of the fish.
- Ginger - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 4 days ahead)
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Make
- Preheat oven to 425F (218C) degrees.
- Heat orange juice (just the sauce portion) and ginger in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil and allow to continue boiling (reduce heat if it looks like it will boil over) until it reduces to a third of its original volume, ~10 minutes (this long reduction is key to getting a creamy sauce). Remove from heat and whisk in yogurt, mustard, lime juice, cumin and red pepper flakes. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Line sheet pan with foil and brush with some cooking oil. Add salmon and bake for 8 to 12 minutes (note: the general rule is 8 to 12 minutes for salmon that is 1” (2.5 cm) at its thickest point, so adjust as needed).
- Toss couscous (remember to save half the couscous for Tuesday) with bell peppers, arugula and almonds. Add half the sauce to salad and toss to combine. Serve salmon with the remaining sauce over the top and salad on the side. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
69 reviews
Didn't love the sauce--wish I would have left out the red pepper flakes and cumin. It did reduce down to a nice thickness after about 30 minutes.
0 HelpfulI doubled the red pepper flakes and cumin for more heat which I liked. Subbed a non-dairy coconut-based yogurt to make it vegan.
0 HelpfulThere was a lot of extra sauce. Not really sure what happened. It was also really liquidy. Maybe needed to reduce more.
0 HelpfulThe paleo version was delicious, namely because of the simple orange sauce recipe, and I'd make it again. Because I made the portion size for 2, it only called for 1 cup of orange juice and I did not experience the same frustration as others did with the sauce not reducing.
0 Helpful