Asparagus and salmon combine their superfood powers to create one delicious and nutritious snack that offers more than 10 grams of protein per serving. These spear bundles may look fancy, but their prep is a no-frills process: they can be cooked ahead of time and stored in the fridge to enjoy later. If you're ready to elevate your Spring snack routine, keep reading for this smart and simple recipe.
Whether you're hosting a brunch, bridal shower, or cocktail party, elegant yet super-simple to prepare gravlax-topped toasts are sure to shine. Delicate and decadent cured salmon (whether home-cured or store-sourced) finds its ideal match when paired with nutty crackers, tangy crème fraiche, briny capers, and a sprig of dill to freshen it all up.
Even better, though this bite looks mighty sophisticated, it requires little more than assembling a few ingredients, and can be easily scaled up or down. It's equally at home as the starter for an intimate four-person dinner party as it is at a blowout bash for 50, just shop for ingredients accordingly.
You've procured the salmon, dill, and other accoutrements and are about to get cracking curing a batch of gravlax at home, but now what? While a relatively simple process, home-curing — and, for that matter, slicing cured salmon — is a culinary adventure many aren't yet acquainted with, so we've broken it down visually to make matters more clear. Follow along with our step-by-step guide to preparing gravlax at home.
Home-curing gravlax, while perhaps not on par with dry-aging steaks at home or transforming a slab of pork belly into bacon, might still seem like a culinary experiment best left to the experts, but that's not the case. Minimal effort and time are required — the salmon cures for a mere three days — to yield results far superior to the majority of store-bought options. This is largely because you, not the producer, are in control of the quality of fish you select, as well as the choice of flavoring agents. And at a third of the price, home-cured gravlax is far more economical than store-bought, even when using top-quality ingredients.
Seek out the freshest salmon you can acquire: the flavor of the fish intensifies as moisture is lost in the curing process. Instructions here are for gravlax with a classic dill and anise flavor profile, but feel free to experiment with other spices and herbs; just keep the ratio of sugar, salt, and fish consistent.
Chaya restaurant in Beverly Hills stuns patrons with its elegant presentation and Franco-Asian flavors. But this restaurant-worthy salmon dish is simple to prepare in your own kitchen. We got a lesson straight from chef Shigefumi Tachibe on how to prepare this slow-marinated salmon with a soy-ginger glaze and a garnish of the restaurant's signature Asian slaw. To see the recipe, read more.
Boxty, an Irish potato pancake that translates to "poor-house bread," is like a cross between an American pancake and hashed browns. While it can be served at any meal, including dinner, I think American palates will appreciate it most for weekend brunch. Try topping it with smoked salmon, crème fraîche, and dill fronds to make it a complete meal.
Update your bagel and lox breakfast routine with this smoked salmon breakfast pizza from Food Orleans.
This super-easy tortilla pizza is a spin on a quick snack we make often around here, usually with pepperoni and mozzarella, but it makes a tasty breakfast when you've got some lox to rock out. To make a pepperoni or other kind of pizza, use the tortilla-crisping method described here, then return to the oven after topping the pizza until the cheese melts and everything's hot.
We are pumped to share one of our favorite stories from Health here on FitSugar.
By Maridel Reyes
Get excited: You can burn calories and combat fat by eating yummy food. "If you choose the right picks, studies show you can torch up to 300 extra calories a day," says Pamela Peeke, MD, author of The Hunger Fix. Whole, unrefined foods are your heroes. Your metabolism has to work harder to break them down than processed ones, so you're zapping more calories—and storing less as fat. These recipes double up (even triple up) on foods with serious metabolism-boosting power. Take that, dastardly fat!
Salmon
What a catch! Research suggests the omega-3s in salmon and other fatty fish help build muscle—and the more muscle you have, the more calories you burn. Omega-3s may also help reduce fat storage by lowering cortisol levels (scientists have yet to confirm how).
Go for: Two 3-oz servings of fatty fish per week.
Try this recipe: Salmon Noodle Bowl
Yogurt
Calcium-rich foods have slimming superpowers. Get too little of this mineral and your body's more likely to pack away calories as fat, according to a review of studies. With up to 50 percent more calcium per ounce than milk, yogurt is a potent source. Better yet, its probiotics may help keep belly fat under control.
Go for: At least two servings a day.
Try these recipes:
Keep reading for five more foods that fight fat.
Most people never see salmon anywhere but in the store or on a plate. In the supermarket, salmon is typically filleted, with the scales (and most times skin) removed, so only the beautiful, coral-colored flesh remains. Though we read the labels about the fish's origin and whether it's wild or farmed, we really know very little about the journey of that fish.
To share the story of how fish travels from sea to table, Whole Foods Market invited food writers to meet a salmon fisher and explore a fishery at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, CA. Beyond just a tourist destination, the wharf is actually a busy, active dock, where fishermen unload fresh fish off their boats, pack them in ice, and distribute them to purveyors like Whole Foods Market.
Click through to learn more about the fishing rules and regulations and how wild salmon travels from the sea to your dinner table.
If you've ever done any last-minute entertaining, you know that sometimes all you need is a quick salad that can easily be thrown together for lunch or dinner guests. This salad works off of the traditional tart and salty pairing of smoked salmon with lemon, herbs, and capers, and it's guaranteed to make dinner companions swoon. Add a warm, buttered French roll, and your meal is served! Keep reading for the fast and easy salmon salad recipe.
