Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Marinated in Smugness?

Grilled Salmon on a Bed of Spinach and Black Beluga Lentils

This is my first instalment of How I cheat on my husband, and this recipe was inspired by what I had l had to use up in the fridge and what I found in the cupboard when searching for something else. You know how it is...

Serves 2

bag of spinach (250g?)
small onion or 2 spring onions
olive oil, garlic, freshly grated nutmeg, salt & pepper

2 salmon steaks
dash of lemon juice
coarse black pepper

1/2 pepper, orange
1 spring onion
100g of black Beluga lentils (1/2 cup)

(I don't know the calorie count or points; it's at the higher end as far as diet meals go because salmon is an oily fish, of course. The lentils add 150 calories for each person.)

As you can see, the lentils are tiny in comparison to green ones, and in their dried state certainly do make you think of Beluga caviar.

There's no need to pre-soak, you simply rinse them in water, then bring to the boil and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes or so. For a few more vegetables and colour, I added the spring onion and the pepper during the last 5 - 7 minutes (add them earlier if you don't like them crunchy). In the meantime, salt the fish, then give it a squeeze of lemon juice and add plenty of pepper. Put under a pre-heated grill.

Wash the spinach and remove as much water as possible. Heat the oil and fry the onion and garlic, add the spinach in batches. Once wilted, add more. Season with plenty of nutmeg and some salt and pepper. Assemble when the salmon is ready. Wait for the response.

This is so tasty! This is the nicest piece of salmon I have eaten for ages!

I kid you not.
Of course, I hadn't done much to the salmon at all. In fact, I had simply treated it in the heart-healthy fashion. I told him that it was probably the quality of the fish: line-caught, from Waitrose.

"Ah," he said, "marinated in smugness for a few weeks!"

But so was I...
Sure, he felt he needed a couple of mandarins straight after, he also ate an apple and a banana later - but that's what we want: more fruit and veg. If he hadn't then made himself a sandwich after midnight, we would have been winning.

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