A very easy jerk salmon with avocado quinoa – a pretty healthy dish that’s full of so much flavour.
Jerk really needs no introduction as one of Jamaica’s greatest exports.
Firstly, have you ever made jerk from scratch? It’s game changing. I found a jerk paste recipe by Levi Roots, ‘reggae reggae sauce anyone’? on the BBC food website and it worked a treat.
So after blitzing all the ingredients (see below) and making the paste, I let it marinate over the salmon fillets for about an hour (would be even better overnight) and pan fried it in a little butter.
Another thing to note is that this easy jerk salmon is very versatile, it can be served with some rice and peas, roasted veggies or perhaps even a Buddha bowl for instance.
However, for this recipe, I’ve made the pan-fried jerk salmon with a fresh avocado quinoa salad which is from The Avocado Cookbook by Heather Thomas. To make it, just dice some avocado, spring onions, chives, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a squeeze of fresh lemon and little sea salt and pepper.
To sum up, it’s something super bright and summery perfect for a quick lunch and make sure to take a look at my Tik Tok video to see how I made it!
Serves 2
Prep 15 mins
Cook 25 mins
Total 40 mins
Ingredients
For the jerk salmon
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2cm/1 inch piece fresh root ginger, roughly chopped
1 yellow scotch bonnet chilli, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 cloves
1/2 tsp ground mixed spice
1 tsp curry powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp vegetable oil
480g salmon fillets (2x 240g )
25g butter
Lemon wedge, to serve
For the avocado quinoa
100g quinoa
240ml vegetable stock
1 large ripe avocado, diced
1-2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 spring onions, diced
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
A few chives, snipped
Salt and freshly black pepper
Method
Make the jerk marinade – put all the ingredients in the blender and blitz to a paste. Place the salmon on a plate and cover with the jerk paste ensuring it is evenly coated. Cover and chill for at least 30 mins (overnight is best if you can).
Meanwhile, rinse the quinoa under cold water, then drain. Bring the stock to the boil in a pan and add the quinoa. Reduce the heat, cover and simmer gently for about 15 mins until tender and most of the stock is absorbed. Remove from the heat and leave to steam in the pan, drain off any excess liquid. Fluff up the quinoa with a fork.
In a medium sized bowl, mix the avocado, a drizzle of olive oil, spring onions, lemon juice and herbs. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
In a large pan, heat butter and pan fry the salmon for roughly 10 mins or until golden and crisp, occasionally spooning the butter over the fish.
Divide the avocado quinoa between two plates and place the salmon on top. Enjoy!
