Salmon with spicy lime

Salmon with Spicy Lime, Ginger and Peanut Dressing

This delicious dressing is a punchy mix of peanuts, lime, coriander, chilli and fish sauce. It adds a hit of vitamin C to any dish and once you've mastered this quick dressing recipe you can use it to add flavour to lots of different meat, fish and veggie dishes.

Here I've paired it with salmon and stir-fry veggies, but you could use trout, any type of white fish, or prawns. It also works equally well to give beef, chicken, tofu or tempeh dishes a zesty kick. Or simply slather it over a selection of oven-roasted veggies.

INGREDIENTS:

Serves 4

• 4 salmon or trout fillets

For the Sauce

• 2 spring onions finely chopped
• 2 - 3cm of fresh ginger root, grated
• 1 fresh red chilli, finely sliced
• 1 clove of garlic, finely diced
• 2 tablespoons of fish sauce
• 4 tbsp sesame oil or coconut oil
• 2 limes, zest and juice
• Large handful of fresh coriander, finely chopped
• 55g blanched peanuts, roughly chopped
• Salt and pepper

For the Stir-Fry Veggies

• Selection of veggies e.g. broccoli, carrots, leeks, peppers, mushrooms, beansprouts, savoy cabbage, mini corn, mange tout. Slice the vegetables so that they are similar in size
• Sesame or coconut oil
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari for gluten-free)

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Heat the oven to 180C fan.
2. Place the fish on baking parchment in a baking tray. Cover tightly with foil and roast in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through.
3. In a glass bowl, mix together all the ingredients for the sauce. Taste and add salt and pepper to season as you wish. Set aside
4. Heat the oil in a wok or deep frying pan and stir-fry your chosen veggies. Start with the more fibrous vegetables e.g. broccoli and carrots, mini corn, and then add the softer vegetables e.g. peppers, cabbage, leeks. Beansprouts and mushrooms cook quickly and are best added towards the end of cooking time.
5. Adding the soy sauce gradually as you are stir-frying will generate some steam to help cook the veggies. Don't overcook your veggies - they should still have a slight bite to them and retain their colour.
6. At the end of stir-frying add 2 - 3 tablespoons of the dressing to the pan and toss through the vegetables.
7. Remove the cooked fish from the oven and serve on top of the stir-fry veg.
8. Slather on more of the dressing as desired.
   Enjoy!

Time Saving Tips:

• Replace with fresh ginger, garlic and chilli with 'cheats' pre-chopped versions in jars.
• Buying a couple of bags of fresh pre-prepared stir-fry veggies from the supermarket can save on chopping when time is short.

* Recipe adapted from The Roasting Tin Cookbook by Rukmini Iyer