Pesto Salmon

I also got this idea from Pinterest... have you discovered this site yet?! It's pretty amazing place to see and share things that you like. I don't always look at the recipes etc in detail, I just look... take my inspiration... then cook!

As my good friend was coming over for dinner and to celebrate our new jobs for the coming school year, I wanted to make something yummy but that was still healthy and within my new goals of eating clean and homemade (the only thing in this that I didn't make from scratch was the pesto... maybe next time though! ;))

For the salmon you will need:

Salmon fillets (we had 2)
Pesto (about 1 tbsp per fillet)
Sliced tomatoes

For the quinoa you will need:

quinoa (rinsed and soaked for about 20 minutes) - I used 1 cup of quinoa so I could have leftovers for a salad the next day
1 small onion (finely diced)
1 buillion of your choice(I used a white wine and herb one I had)
water (for my 1 cup of quinoa, I used 1 3/4 cup water)
a dash of olive oil

For the broccoli you will need:

1 small head of broccoli
salted water for blanching
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp balsamic vinegar


To cook the salmon you need to pre-heat your oven to 200C or whatever that converts to in F (you're smart... you know how to google that, right?). Lay the fillets out on a piece of foil (that is big enough to make into a pocket around the fillets). Butter them with the pesto and then cover them with the sliced tomatoes. Wrap them in a pocket that is big enough to not let the top touch the salmon and place it in your oven for about 20 minutes.

To cook the quinoa, you need to first heat the oil in your pan, then saute the onions in the oil. Once they have sweat to a transparency, add the quinoa and let that cook in the oil for a few minutes (gives it a nuttier flavour and allows it to soak up the sweetness of the onions). Then add the water and buillion. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat, cover and let cook until there is no more water in the pot (about 25 minutes or so).

To cook the broccoli, get your salted water to a rolling boil and toss the veg in for about 2 minutes, just enough time to get them hot and bright green. Drain the water off and transfer to a pan containing the hot oil... saute for a few minutes before adding the vinegar. This takes less than 5 minutes and should be done right before serving.
Sorry for the poor picture quality... used my phone and the lighting was dim... *sigh*
The meal was super flavourful and tasty. And the best part was that it was healthy! Happy Eating!