High protein lunch recipe for 6 people, takes only 40 mins; recipe has quinoa, olive oil, vegetable stock, asparagus, soya bean, broccoli, lemon, salmon fillet, garlic clove, puy lentils, spring onion, mint, baby spinach and flaked almond.
Toasted quinoa, lentil & poached salmon salad
Course: High protein lunch
Servings
6
servings
Prep time
15 mins
Ingredients
- Garlic Clove: 1/2 garlic clove, crushed
- Olive Oil: 1 tsp olive oil
- Vegetable Stock: 400ml light vegetable stock (we used bouillon)
- Spring Onion: 6 spring onions, sliced on the diagonal
- Mint: large handful mint and parsley, roughly chopped
- Lemon: zest and juice 1 lemon
- Puy Lentils: 250g pack ready-cooked Puy lentils
- Baby Spinach: 85g baby spinach leaves
- Broccoli: 140g broccoli, florets trimmed and halved (we used Tenderstem)
- Salmon Fillet: 2 salmon fillets (about 150g each)
- Quinoa: 140g quinoa
- Soya Bean: 100g frozen soya bean
- Asparagus: 250g asparagus, trimmed
- Flaked Almond: 25g flaked almond, toasted
Directions
- Rinse the quinoa and tip into a large non-stick frying pan. Turn the heat to medium and dry out the grains, stirring to move them about the pan. Once all the liquid has evaporated, stir in the oil. Continue cooking the quinoa until it has turned a nutty brown and starts to 'pop' - this will take 10-15 mins. Stir every so often to stop the quinoa burning. Pour over the stock and simmer for 15-20 mins until all the liquid has been absorbed. Tip into a bowl and allow to cool.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pan of water to the boil. Drop in the soya beans, asparagus and broccoli, and simmer for 2 mins. Remove using a slotted spoon and plunge into a bowl of ice-cold water. Drain the vegetables.
- Add 1 tsp of the lemon juice to the pan with the vegetable water, then turn the heat down to a gentle simmer. Season the salmon fillets and submerge fully in the water. Poach for 6-8 mins until just cooked. Remove, allow to cool, then take off the skin and flake into large chunks.
- Make a dressing by mixing together the garlic, most of the lemon zest and remaining lemon juice. Mix the quinoa, lentils, drained vegetables, spring onions, herbs, spinach and dressing together in a large bowl, then season. Pile onto a serving plate, top with the salmon, then scatter over the almonds and remaining lemon zest.
