Flavour Fiesta: Tandoori Salmon with Spinach, Cucumber and Pickled Onions

February 16, 2012 By Leanne Vogel March 29, 2017

I love to surround myself with strong and confident individuals who have found their passion, trust their instincts, and believe in themselves. I guess it just helps me stay positive and stay on track? When I came across Divya and Flavour Fiesta, it was inspiration at first site. I knew I just had to reach out to her and share her story with whoever would listen. This lady truly feels comfortable with herself, believes in what she’s doing; and in turn, has encouraged me to live from my heart and continue to put trust in following my dreams (which included going to India!!). If you haven’t checked it out already, Divya has created a quarterly magazine; that I featured on the blog in the Fall and Winter, where she takes us through her favorite seasonal recipes, health tips, and kitchen how-tos. Okay, time to get to her pictures and tasty recipe to do the talking! I was so excited when Leanne approached me to write a guest post for her blog! I came across Leanne’s blog last year when I was looking for recipes for guilt-free desserts and I’ve been absolutely hooked since then. She is my go-to resource for healthful tips and recipes, but what I look forward to the most are her inspirational posts. She is one truly inspiring woman and I’m glad to have “met” her through blogging. When Leanne asked me to write a guest post, I immediately started thinking about what I was going to make. I wanted to create something extra special for her and came up with a few ideas for dessert. But things didn’t work out in the kitchen as expected! Isn’t it a shame that a concept that sounds great in your head doesn’t seem to work out so well when you try it out in the kitchen? Ahh…the unpredictability of recipe testing! Anyways, since Leanne is going to India, what could be more apt than a dish inspired by Indian cuisine? So I came up with this simple and delicious tandoori salmon salad with baby spinach, cucumber and pickled onions. And to top it all off and to cut out some of the heat, I added a few dollops of a cilantro-yogurt sauce. Doesn’t that sound like a scrumptious spring salad? Who doesn’t love salmon? Not only is it a good source of high quality protein and omega-3 fatty acids, but it’s also quick to make. Whenever I’m short on time, I know I can whip up a quick and satisfying meal with some salmon. For this dish, the salmon is marinated with some ginger, garlic and tandoori masala before grilling/pan frying it. I think marinating is a great way to enhance the natural fatty flavour of salmon. I recommend marinating for at least 15 minutes, but if you have some time, marinate for up to 2 hours. It really does make the salmon taste much better! If you’ve never cooked with Indian spices, you might find it intimidating, but it really isn’t. I used to find it difficult too, but all you really need to know is a few key spices and then you can experiment with mixing and matching them to taste. For this dish, I’m keeping it really simple. All you need is some tandoori masala and chilli powder – so no complicated spices here! You can find tandoori masala at any Indian store and even at most major supermarkets these days. I’ve even spotted it at Bulk Barn! Tandoori masala is a mixture of garam masala, ginger, garlic, cayenne pepper and other spices. I always recommend adding plenty of lemon or lime juice on a dish with tandoori masala to really enhance to the flavour of the spices. View Nutritional Information (once on page scroll down) Thanks so much Leanne for giving me the honour to create something special for your site! I really enjoyed creating this recipe for you and I hope you have a great time in India!

This entry was tagged: guest post, salmon