Simple Gluten Free Kitchen

Citrus Baked Salmon and Lentil Salad

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Since both salmon and lentils are favorites in this house I bring you an extremely high protein, nutritious, filling and delicious meal.  I specifically made lentil salad with salmon keeping my husband in mind.  He prefers to get his carbs from lentils instead of potato, rice or bread. If you’re on a high-protein and low-crab diet, you hardly need me to sell you on this lentil salad served with citrus salmon. You can watch me make this recipe on a video on my YouTube Channel.

It’s super easy to make, perfect for those hectic days when you want nutritious dinner but don’t want to buzz around in the kitchen. Plus, a great recipe for showing off to your friends at summer cookout.

 

 

I first published this recipe in October of 2012 and mentioned how my daughter had been actively involved in volunteering. As a parent, I too helped out in which ever way I could.  My daughter is grown up now and is a working woman but in spite of this she is equally involved in whole bunch of volunteer activities in the community. Last year she joined a non profit organization  “Dialogue Richmond“,  and is currently the president. Their goal is to address social issues and bring the community closer together. I brought the volunteer part again because you will see some of the comments mentioning about girl scouts and volunteering.

Last weekend I treated my family again with this meal so thought to update the post and pictures.

This citrus salmon is perfect with the flavorful lentil salad, but the salad itself is so good, it could easily stand on its own. The salmon gets baked in a pool of orange and lemon sauce which keeps the fish moist and tender. The citrus sauce doesn’t need any pre-cooking. Simply mix it together and pour it over salmon. It’s little sweet. The best salmon recipes that I have made involves something sweet. Sugar, dates, honey, fruit juice, etc. It matters not where the sweetness comes from. It just enhances the flavor of the fish. Though I prefer not to use refined sugar. This citrus sauce has become such a favorite that I even use it on chicken.

Click here for more recipes with salmon

The lentil salad with salmon is crunchy, chewy, and tender, all at the same time. To make, there is really nothing much to it. I used canned lentils to make the recipe come together quickly. If you are cooking the lentils yourself make sure you do not overcook. The lentils should be tender, but hold their shape.  Then add the veggies, some seeds and dried fruit for little sweetness. The dressing is a simple lemon juice and olive oil mixture with some minced garlic.

 

 

The best part about this recipe is how you can swap most of the ingredients and just have fun. Any lentil can be switched for the brown lentils, chicken for salmon, spinach for romaine. Sometimes I change up the veggies based on what I have on hand and add herbs from the kitchen garden. You can get more ideas from my other lentil salads,  here and here. So don’t be shy to taste and tweak the recipe as you’re making it.

 

 

I felt satisfied and happy feeding my family a simple and nutritious but delicious meal.

Want to see how I made this?

I hope you can check out the video on my YouTube Channel. While you’re there, maybe you’d see some other recipe videos that you’d like. If you do, please don’t forget to like and share with your friends and family.  Hope to see you there. 

 

Print
Citrus Baked Salmon and Lentil Salad

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 6 salmon fillets (115 g each)
    • Ingredients for Citrus Garlic Marinade
  • juice and zest of 1 medium orange
  • juice and zest of one lemon
  • 1 tbsp teaspoon olive oil
  • 1/2 scant teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 scant tsp red chili powder
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp fresh cilantro or parsley for garnish
    • Ingredients for Lentil Salad
  • 1 can brown lentils, drained
  • 3/4 bunch chopped romaine lettuce ( 3 cups) or your choice of greens)
  • 1 cup grated carrot
  • 1/3 cup , thinly sliced apricots (can use fresh)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced radish
  • 1/3 -1/2 cup pumpkin or sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 cup sliced celery
    • Lemon Vinaigrette
  • 1 tbsp evoo
  • 1 tbsp tamari (soy sauce)
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp minced garlic
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper to taste and place them on a baking pan lined with aluminum foil.
  3. Combine, the lemon and orange juice with the zest. Stir in minced garlic, salt and red chili powder. Pour this mixture over the fish fillets.
  4. Bake for 10 -15 minutes or until salmon is almost completely cooked through at the thickest part. Place under the broiler briefly, about 3-4 minutes to give grill effect.
  5. If your salmon is thinner, check several minutes early to ensure your salmon does not overcook. If your piece is very thick, 1 ½ or more inches, it may take a bit longer).
    6. To make Lentil Salad,
  6. combine the lemon vinaigrette ingredients in a small bowl. Place chopped romaine lettuce in a large bowl. Add, drained and rinsed lentils, shredded carrot, celery, radish, apricots, pumpkin seeds. Pour lemon vinaigrette and toss.
  7. Enjoy!
https://www.simpleglutenfreekitchen.com/2021/08/citrus-baked-salmon-and-lentil-salad.html

 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Yay for volunteering ! You gotta start them young ! hahahha

    That’s one scrumptious one-dish meal ! Colorful and healthy dish , too ! Yum !

    Reply

  8. Cool that your daughter volunteers here time for the community, it is a great benefit to both parties and more kids should do this.
    Your lentil salad here looks tasty with apricots and greens. It goes so well with the salmon and quinoa. Very healthy as well.

    Reply

  9. I totally agree with you in sending kids to some program while they are young. But it also depends on their friend circle. I have two sons, one loves to hang out in malls and the other one volunteers at every opportunity.

    Reply

  12. YAY for volunteering! Lentil, quinoa and salmon are perfect together and I’m a big fan of salmon. The trick with salmon is always to have more simple and bold flavors and this one does just that. So beautiful:)

    Reply

  13. Delicious food – love salmon and lentils use it often with quinoa – always looking for a new thing to do with lentils though – so this is great fun.

    Reply

  14. Lovely post, dear! My son’s 17, a yr older & he’s into volunteering too. He was a scout in elementary, then joined the national cadet corps. I agree with u, volunteering is a spirit & it helps build character.

    Very nice salmon pairing, a wonderful treat indeed!

    Reply

  15. What a healthy colorful and filling meal!
    I salute your daughter and all other volunteers for their dedication and hard work to help others. My daughter is only in 4th grade now but she started simple volunteering like reading and math tutoring for kindergarteners since 2nd grade. Now she’s helping out in their school’s special education class. I’m truly proud of her!

    Reply

  16. That’s great thing about American education. Volunteering is not so common in Japanese schools. Everyone is so busy about studying studying studying…and I feel that sometimes you forget important lessons in life. My kids are still 3 and 5 so haven’t started to volunteer yet, but I’d love to educate them from young age. I volunteer in my son’s kindergarten class every week, so he knows what’s “volunteering” means. Your lentil salad looks delicious! I love that you eat with the citrus salmon.

    Reply

    • I remember the days of selling girl scout cookies with my young daughter..many years back! Volunteering is such a great service to the community. Nothing is better than that.
      I love this dish when you combined the salmon with lentil salad and quinoa to make a wonderful meal:)

      Reply

  17. You must be so proud of your daughter. You’ve obviously done a great job. As for this dish it sounds so healthy. Salmon, lentils and quinoa each have healthy benefits but together it sounds like a powerhouse of a dish. Love this recipe and will definitely try it many times over.

    Reply

  18. I’m going to get my daughter into Girl Scouts this year!!It teaches them so much from a young age!Couldn’t agree more with you!
    This lentil salad looks delicious and the pairing with Salmon makes it a really satisfying and a super healthy meal :)Love it!!

    Reply

  19. This looks scrumptious. I love salmon, but can’t handle lentils anymore…they are great, but I get bloated every time..and I never learned the lesson and always repeat the mistake…LOL

    Reply

  22. We would be ecstatic if someone served us this gorgeous meal. So healthy and light and just what we are craving. We must have salmon at least once a week so can’t wait to try it with your delicious lentil salad.

    Reply

  23. Ahhhh! I can live on this combo for months on end. Such a delicious and yum meal! I certainly will get it made in my daughter flat when I go there. Her roommate makes the fish for us and she will love the meal I then put together. 😀
    More of a shortcut :D. I know I am lazy but lol.
    I have never tried volunteering somehow never considered it. Thanks will check if I can do something about it.

    Reply

  28. Balvinder, I love lentils – any color – any way I can get them, and with this salmon, the flavors compliment each other so nicely! Thanks for the lovely healthy recipe!

    Reply

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