Salmon

Spotlight: Salmon

Fun Food Facts: Many Native American tribes depended heavily upon wild salmon in their diet. Early European settlers quickly got tired of a salmon-rich diet, with many indentured servants actually having a clause written into their contracts restricting salmon meals to only once a week. www.about.com go figure, If they only knew...

I must, however, point out that WILD salmon is not the same as FARMED salmon. Wild salmon is one of the best sources of Omega-3s on this planet. The Omega-3s in salmon is made internally, by what the salmon is feeding on. In the wild, they eat krill and shrimp. This gives salmon its pink color. This natural pigment is called astaxanthin. It is a carotenoid and has ten times the antioxidant activity of beta-carotene. But, farm raised salmon does not get to eat krill or shrimp. Farmers pick out the color of their salmon by a color wheel called SalmoFan. It’s kind of like the ones at a paint store. Farmers artificially raise red or pink fish. If that’s not enough to convince you, farmed salmon contains PCBs at levels that raise health concerns. They are the most PCB-contaminated protein in the U.S. food supply. They have 16x the dioxinlike PCBs found in wild salmon, four times beef and 3 times more in other seafood. Farmed fish tend to be fed antibiotics and growth hormones – you didn’t think you needed to consider that with fish now did you? That’s not just a chicken, turkey, or beef issue. Now the potential for mercury contamination is a tough call. There may be a concern about mercury, but the health benefits of salmon outweigh the concerns; AND, wild salmon is one of the least seafood’s contaminated with mercury. Look for salmon caught in the pristine Alaskan waters for toxin-free salmon. I love my salmon Asian style.

Recipe Idea: Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small sauce pan almost to smoking. Turn off flame and add 1 tablespoon of grated ginger and 2 tablespoons of chopped scallions. Set aside. Sprinkle sea salt and freshly ground black pepper on 4 individual pieces of salmon - skin on or off - your choice, 3-4 oz each. Pour ginger/green onion mixture over of salmon. Sprinkle a little whole wheat, Panko breadcrumbs on top and bake for about 10 minutes at 375. Drizzle a little home made peanut sauce after it’s cooked (don’t skip this step – it’s awesome). Peanut sauce: 2 tbsp of each - peanut butter, honey, soy sauce, grated ginger, sesame oil; ¼ cup of rice vinegar, 1 tsp minced garlic, ½ tsp cayenne. Blend all ingredients until smooth. You will love this recipe.