Lemon Garlic Dill Salmon Recipe

This delicious recipe steams a salmon or trout filet in a foil pouch. It can be cooked in the oven, on a grill, or even at a campfire. The lemon, garlic, and dill go together beautifully.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 lb. salmon or trout filet
6 or 7 slices of lemon, plus a couple tablespoons of juice
6 cloves of garlic, minced
6 or 7 sprigs of fresh dill
1 sprig of fresh dill, chopped
3 scallions (green onions), sliced thin
A small amount of dry white wine, apple cider, or apple juice, about 1/4 cup
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450°F (230° C). Spray a large piece of aluminum foil with cooking spray and place foil on a baking sheet or in a large baking dish. Place salmon on one side of foil sheet and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic and chopped dill. Drizzle a little lemon juice on top.

Sprinkle on the scallions, arrange slices of lemon on top, and place sprigs of dill over the lemons. Bend up the edges of the foil to make a shallow bowl and add the wine, cider or juice. This helps steam the fish, adds flavor, and keeps it very moist. Close up the foil to make a sealed pouch.

Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until salmon flakes easily.

Traditional Fish Stock

Oily fish like trout, salmon, mackerel, or herring, is very good for your health, but fish stock should be made with non-oily fish. The oils can rancidify during the long, slow cooking time required for stock. Sole or turbot is ideal, though flounder, snapper, whiting, or striped bass works well.

Fish stock is made with the bones and trimmings of the fish. Include the head for even more healthy nutrients and rich consistency. Don't be squeamish! For a more delicate flavor, just use the bones and trimmings.

In Europe and Asia you can easily get fresh whole fish at the market. It's more difficult in America, unfortunately. A good fish merchant will save the carcasses for you if you ask. He normally just throws them away, so he shouldn't charge you.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of fish frames (bones) or 1 3/4 pounds pieces (including bones)

optionally you may add one large (6 inch long or more) or two small fish heads, split lengthwise, gills removed

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

4 stalks celery, thinly sliced

2 medium carrots, thinly sliced

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup rough chopped fresh flat leafed parsley

6 springs thyme

1-2 tablespoons black peppercorns (to taste)

1/2 cup dry white wine

Sea salt

Rinse off the bones and/or fish parts. It isn't necessary to saute the vegetables, but it does add flavor. They can simply be added after reducing the stock to a simmer. For a very healthy sautee, add four or five tablespoons of stock (vegetable, fish, or even chicken) to the bottom of a 7-8 quart stockpot. Two tablespoons of olive oil will work fine, if you prefer. Bring to heat and add the onions, celery, carrots, bay leaves, parsley, thyme, and peppercorns. Stir frequently to soften without browning. Add the wine and just enough water to cover by an inch. Bring to a boil and skim off any white foam. The old saying for stock making is: Keep skimming the scum till the scum don't come.

After ten minutes, reduce heat to simmer. Add the herbs and veggies now if you didn't saute them earlier. Simmer for twenty minutes, then remove from heat and let steep for ten minutes. Strain through a fine mesh strainer. Season lightly with salt.

The stock needs to be chilled quickly. A sink full of ice water would do nicely. Stir the stock to redistribute the heat. You can also freeze partially filled water bottles and drop them in the pot to cool the stock more quickly.

Don't be afraid to tinker with the ingredients a bit. That's true for any recipe; I hardly ever follow the directions exactly. But stocks and soups are ideal for playing around with the ingredients. You want it less peppery? Cut the amount of peppercorns. Want to add a clove of cracked garlic? Go right ahead. Keep it within healthy principles and you can't go wrong.

Trout Fillet With Mustard Glaze

This is such a delicious and healthy recipe. It works great with salmon as well.

For the ingredients you'll need:

1 trout fillet (1 1/2 - 2 lb.)
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon honey (raw honey is best)
1/2 - 3/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Place fillet skin side down on a piece of heavy duty foil set in a rimmed 10 x 15 inch pan or baking sheet. Mix together the mustard, oil, honey, lemon zest and lemon juice. Brush fish with the mixture.

With the oven door ajar, broil the fish about 5 inches from heat just until it looks slightly translucent and wet in the thickest part, 9 - 12 minutes. Lift foil to transfer fillet to serving platter. Salt and pepper to taste.

That's all there is to it. Simple, incredibly delicious, and very good for you. That's a perfect trifecta in my book.

What Is A Healthy Diet?

Everyone knows about the tremendous benefits of a healthy diet, but there is a lot of confusion about how exactly to define a good healthy diet. Some of the confusion comes from misinformation, some from outdated information, and some from people who simply want to sell you a bill of goods.

Photo by Chickpea.

There are actually several different healthy diets practiced by various populations around the globe. They all have certain common characteristics. Very little red meat, and less meat overall, with a much greater emphasis on vegetables. Plenty of fish, especially fatty fish that are high in Omega 3 fatty acids, such as lake trout, salmon, mackerel, albacore tuna, herring, and sardines. Whole grains. Soy and soy products such as tofu and miso. Lowfat dairy. Alcohol, particularly wine, in moderation. Little saturated fat, but plenty of healthy oil such as olive oil and canola.

Photo by angela7dreams

Cutting too much fat from your diet is not healthy. Your body requires fat in order to function properly. But many fats are not healthy. With the exception of fish, animal fats should be limited. But even many vegetable oils are way too high in Omega 6 fatty acids. Omega 6 is not bad for you per se. You need some, but many people get far too much in their diet. The ideal ratio of Omega 6 to Omega 3 is 1:1, but the typical American diet is 20:1 and as high as 50:1. It's best to avoid corn oil, sunflower oil, safflower oil, and soy oil, and products that contain them. Absolutely avoid any hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated fats.

A healthy diet will be nutrient rich, but with only as many calories as you need. Superfoods such as kelp, dulse, wakame, and other sea vegetables, spirulina, chlorella, and blue-green algae, make a great addition to your menu.

A Tasty And Healthy Diet

You know you can't build and maintain good health for very long if you aren't eating a good healthy diet. Your body is a very complex system. Like a machine, it needs to be maintained. It requires the proper fuel to run well. You wouldn't dream of putting sludge in your car's gas tank, but people think nothing of putting the sludge equivalent, junk food, in their own bodies. You should treat your body better than your car. You can buy a new car when it breaks down, but you can't buy yourself a new body.

It's almost like having a new body if you start to treat the one you have correctly. If you've spent years practicing unhealthy habits, think of it as restoring a classic. If you're young and healthy, you're practicing the maintenance necessary to keep your body in showroom condition.

Photo by gardinali

People think healthy food has to be bland or unpalatable. There have certainly been a lot of health food products that fit that description, but it doesn't have to be that way. What could be better than organic, garden fresh herbs and vegetables? Fresh wild trout or free range chicken? The quality and flavor of food in a good healthy diet is far better than in the typical unhealthy diet.

The trouble is that one's tastes adapt. If you're used to a diet high in bad fats and sugar, you've become used to those flavors and even crave them. Any change is going to taste strange or bad at first. In a short time, however, your palate adapts to the new flavors. Over the course of a few weeks, good healthy food will start to taste better and better and unhealthy food will taste like the garbage it is.

Photo by gardinali

When I cut out sugar and artificial sweeteners it was the same process. After a couple of days I was used to the new flavors, and my sense of taste improved quickly. After a few weeks I was able to appreciate the natural sweetness of fruits and many vegetables. I was amazed. So that's what they're supposed to taste like!

A few months later I needed to quench my thirst and a friend handed me their soft drink. Without thinking about it, I took a swig and spit it right out. YUCK! The sweetness made me gag. I used to drink them all the time, and now I wondered how anyone could even stand the taste.

So you should be prepared to find that a change in dietary habits will taste funny at first. Stick with it, for the sake of your health. It really takes very little time to adapt to the flavors of a healthy and nutritious diet.