Namaste Real – Wellness & Running – Train With Ally

Let’s talk about salmon.

The omega-3’s (yay healthy fats!) are great for keeping inflammation down and shuttling the nutrients through our bodies. The vitamin D content is high, so that’s fantastic for bone health. The protein availability is excellent. B vitamins,selenium, antioxidants and tons of other micronutrients can be found in abundance in wild-caught salmon. This fish is great for your heart, brain, immune function, and so much more. It’s a nutrition powerhouse for sure. Why wouldn’t ya love it?!

Well, for a long time I hated it. To be fair, I hated all fish until a few years ago. When I started training for my first marathon, I kept hearing the health benefits of wild caught salmon. How it was an excellent recovery food for runners. It had all the health properties I mentioned above. So I thought I HAD to eat it. So…I basically forced myself to, whether I liked it or not.

So I went out to a restaurant that had wild caught Alaskan sockeye salmon on the menu and ordered it. I ate about half of it before I just couldn’t choke it down any longer. I didn’t like it at all.

So the next week I prepared it myself. I found some recipe with lemon and garlic and baked it. Again…it was hard to eat. But I ate a little more, and it was a little easier. And I knew it was good for me.

I gritted my teeth through eating it for a while…until I made this recipe here. I actually LIKED salmon for the first time!

I did a little “mash-up” of a few recipes I found online for salmon and added the cashew crust for flavor. I figured if every bite I took had some cashews, it couldn’t taste that bad 🙂 But I actually loved this recipe. Completely. The salmon tasted amazing! The flavor combination was delicious and for once, it didn’t taste so “fishy”.

So now, I love salmon! And I wanted to share this recipe with the world because (not to toot my own horn but…) it’s still the best salmon recipe I’ve ever come across. And if you currently don’t eat salmon because you don’t like it..try this recipe. It may convert you!

CASHEW CRUSTED CHILI LIME SALMON RECIPE

Ingredients:

2 Wild-Caught Alaskan Sockeye Salmon Filets

1 Lime

1/4 Cup Cashews (crushed)

3-4 TBSP Avocado Oil

1 tsp (or more) Maple Syrup or Honey

1 TBSP Chili Powder

1/2 TBSP Garlic Powder

1/2 TBSP Paprika

1/2 TBSP Cumin

1/2 TBSP Onion Powder

1 tsp Salt

1 tsp Pepper

Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F

2. Line a sheet pan with foil.

3. Lay the salmon flat, skin-side down on top of the foil.

4. Cut the lime and squeeze the juice directly on the salmon and coat it.

5. Combine spices and avocado oil. You want it to be very “grainy” – a high spice ratio to avocado oil ratio, so add oil in 1 TBSP at a time to reach a gritty, grainy consistency.

6. Rub the spice blend all over the salmon.

7. Put crushed cashews on top of the salmon.

8. Fold the foil over the salmon and pinch it together to cover the fish.

9. Place salmon in the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes.

10. After 10 minutes, unfold the foil so that the salmon is directly exposed to the oven heat. Cook for another 5 minutes or until heated to at least 145 degrees F and the cashews are toasted to desired liking.

11. Enjoy!