Honey-Lime Salmon over Quinoa {and dolphin watching!}

Pin It Now! What a beautiful Sunday!  One of the benefits of living right on the coast is the opportunity to watch stunning sunsets on the beach.  Hubby and I took a walk to the Ellwood Bluffs/Coronado Butterfly Preserve to catch the sunset, and we were definitely in for a treat...  dolphins!  While we took in the sunset from the bluffs, dozens of dolphins played in the waves below.  It was really an amazing sight. 

Another benefit to living on the coast is fresh seafood.  We have a great fish market in the Harbor, with a selection of lots of local seafood as well as some flown in from around the nation. We chose a beautiful wild salmon from Washington.  (ALWAYS buy wild when possible.)

Santa Barbara Fish Market 

We love salmon in our house.  My usual standby is to drizzle it with olive oil, squeeze a bunch of lemons over it, scatter garlic slices on it and toss it in the oven.  Nothin' wrong with that, but it was time to switch it up.  So this time I went with a glaze of lime and honey, and it turned out great!  Hubby loved it (yay!) and even had seconds.

Another switch-up to our usual salmon dinner was with quinoa (pronounced keen-wah).  I've been meaning to give this a try for quite some time and I'm really not sure why I didn't do it sooner.  We loved it!  Quinoa is one of those superfoods you've been hearing about.  Each serving is loaded with protein, fiber, folate, magnesium (great for people like me who get migraines), iron AND all eight amino acids!  It's no wonder the Incas called quinoa "the mother of all grains."  And if you're not sold yet, it cooks in 15 minutes with zero supervision.  That scores high, in my humble opinion.  Quinoa is like a blank canvas; you can do anything with it.  We'll definitely be enjoying quinoa quite frequently.  Give it a try!

Honey-Lime Salmon
Juice of three limes
3-4 tablespoons honey
Salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, honey, salt & pepper.  Place salmon in baking dish and pour half of the glaze over it, letting it rest for five minutes before baking.  Bake until cooked to desired doneness.  Serve over a bed of quinoa, drizzling the rest of the glaze over the filets immediately prior to serving.

Garlic & Shallot Quinoa
1 c uncooked quinoa
2 c water or chicken broth
1 small shallott, thinly sliced
2 medium garlic cloves, minced

Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. 

We enjoyed our salmon and quinoa with steamed broccoli and corn.  Enjoy!