Salmon and Sugar Snap Peas

After the heavy food that we had over the weekend (and leftovers last night), I decided to make something a little lighter for dinner tonight.  I love salmon, and it is very healthy.  We always hear about the wonderful Omega-3 fatty acids, but I never realized that a four ounce serving of wild salmon provides a full day’s requirement of vitamin D.  That same piece of fish contains over half of the necessary B12, niacin, and selenium, and is an excellent source of B6 and magnesium.  Finding foods that are not only good, but good for you is always a plus!  The salmon that I bought was previously frozen, and I had been letting it thaw in the refrigerator for a few days.  I transferred it to a plastic bag and marinated it in Light Raspberry Vinaigrette salad dressing.  I just poured the dressing, not measuring, until each piece was covered with, probably using about 1/3 of the bottle.  I allowed it to marinate in the refrigerator for about 2 hours before cooking. 

When I got ready to cook it, I lined a baking sheet with foil and sprayed it with cooking spray.  I placed each piece on the sheet, and drizzled it with a little teriyaki sauce and sesame oil. 

Sesame seed oil is something that is fairly new to me.  I had never cooked with it until a few months ago.  I found a recipe for Chicken Fried Rice in Southern Living that I wanted to try, and the recipe called for it.  It can be found on the ethnic foods aisle with the Asian foods.  It is unbelievable what a difference it makes in Asian dishes.  It has a really good flavor that is different from regular vegetable or canola oil.  Just remember, though, that a little bit goes a long way!

I preheated the oven to 400, and baked the salmon for about 15 to 20 minutes.  My oven cooks really fast, so the key to knowing when salmon is done is to try to cut it with a fork.  If it flakes, it is done. 

For a side dish, I made sugar snap peas.  I got the kind that you can steam in the bag, but I wanted them to be a little more exciting.  I added about a tablespoon of sesame seed oil and teriyaki sauce each to my frying pan and turned the heat on medium.  After the pan got hot, I put the sugar snap peas in and stirred them so that they were coated with the oil and sauce.  I cooked them for about 20 minutes, stirring them often.  After this time, I tried one, and they were a little crunchier than I like.  I covered them and let them cook for about 15 minutes more.  The amount of time they need to cook just depends on how crunchy you like them.  They were very good!  They would also be good with other stir fry vegetables like carrots, broccoli, or peppers.

The salmon was very good, too.  There was a hint of the raspberry vinaigrette in each bite.  Yum!