More Than Our Story

Ponzu Sesame Salmon and Spicy, Roasted Vegetables

Ponzu Sesame Salmon and Spicy, Roasted Vegetables

Total Time: 1 Hour (Prep: 35 mins, Cook: 25 mins, Plating: 5 mins)

Serves: 4

Animal Protein

Table of Contents

Inspiration

I’m not normally a huge fan of salmon, but this is hands down the greatest salmon dish I have ever created. The cast iron pan leaves the sesame-coated skin crispy, and the meat moist – it’s also perfectly complimented by the spicy, roasted vegetables. Trust me – I break out this recipe when we have guests. As an added bonus wild salmon is high in omega-3s, which have been linked to improved heart and brain health, and is also a cancer-fighting superfood.

WILD OR FARMED SALMON?
While often cheaper and larger than its wild relatives, environmental and dietary differences mean farmed salmon often contains more potentially harmful, and even carcinogenic, contaminants than wild salmon.

Ingredients

Salmon

  • Wild Atlantic salmon (4, ½ pound filets)
  • ½ cup sesame seeds (black and white)
  • Pure sesame oil (¼ cup)
  • Ponzu (¼ cup)
  • 1-2 green onions, finely diced into rings

Roasted Vegetables

  • 3 green onion, trimmed, then cut to 2-3” pieces
  • ½ red onion
  • 2 green zucchini, halved then sliced
  • 1 cup baby carrots, halved
  • 1 cup shitake mushrooms, diced
  • Sesame oil, 2 tablespoons, pure
  • Ponzu, 2 tablespoons
  • Shichimi Togarashi (generous tablespoon)

HEART-HEALTHY FACTS:
Salmon is rich in omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA) and potassium which greatly contribute to heart health, by reducing artery inflammation, lowering cholesterol levels, and maintaining healthy blood pressure levels.

BRAIN-HEALTHY FACTS:
Omega-3 (particularly DHA) works in association with vitamins A and D, and selenium to help boost and improve brain function. Omega-3 fatty acid supplements are even used to treat psychological disorders like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

CANCER-FIGHTING FACTS:
It has been proven that omega-3 fatty acids have a profound effect on cancer cells and can help kill tumors. Certain cancers, including skin cancer, prostate cancer, colorectal cancer, liver cancer and brain tumors may be treated and prevented with omega-3 fatty acids.

Preparations

Salmon

  1. Combine half the sesame oil and half the ponzu sauce in a ziplock bag, add salmon filets and marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge.
  2. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  3. Spread half the remaining sesame oil in the cast iron skillets (you will want to use 2 cast iron pans and extra oil if you do not have one cast iron pan large enough to hold all the filets with enough space between each piece to allow for proper cooking – about an inch).
  4. Spread sesame seeds on a plate.
  5. Remove filets from ziplock and roll in the sesame seeds, coating top and bottom, then placing in the cast iron pan(s).
  6. Top with remaining sesame oil, ponzu, and half of the diced green onions.
  7. Cook for 15 minutes (or until deserted cook is reached).

Roasted Vegetables

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
  2. Combine all vegetables in oven safe tray.
  3. Add sesame oil, ponzu, and shichimi togarashi, and toss.
  4. Cook for 25 minutes (or until deserted cook is reached).

Serving

  1. Plate salmon and top with remaining diced, green onion.
  2. Add vegetables and serve immediately.

Tips

  • Watch out how long you marinade your salmon – you can marinate salmon for up to an hour, but any longer and the fish will get mushy.

SOURCES

Picture of Daniel

Daniel

Daniel is an extremely curious person, a wealth of random knowledge and facts. Extremely passionate about a vast array of interests ranging from health to history, science to athletics, everything culinary and the list goes on. Trust us, you would want to be on his team for Trivial Pursuit. Daniel is also years into his battle with brain cancer. He experienced a seizure while on a Zoom call at work in late 2020 and quite literally, his life changed within minutes. After his operation he started to talk about his story but had always known it was more than just him. From then, More Than Our Story became a PROJECT that has evolved into the starting point it is today.

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