Excerpt from Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics
This dish was created to be light-but-filling, bright-yet-rich, and filled with the fresh produce easiest to get this season.
I made this meal for two, but it would be very easy to adapt for one or for four.
Inspired by British chef Jamie Oliver, I decided to experiment with Vital Choice Wild Pacific King Salmon fillets wrapped in the thinnest of sliced prosciutto and roasted just a few minutes, until the prosciutto began to crisp.
Prosciutto is a dry-cured Italian ham that is often served thinly sliced and uncooked. When roasted, it crisps up to a paper-thin coating around the salmon.
The combination was delightful and incredibly flavorful – just six minutes was all it took to deliver a silky, perfectly cooked king salmon portion surrounded by a tiny bit of crispy, smoky prosciutto.
To balance the richness of the fish, I prepared a very fresh and light salad of warm lentils, crisp baby arugula and pink grapefruit sections, dressed with a light-on-the-oil grapefruit vinaigrette.
Lentils are incredibly easy to prepare and are a nutritional powerhouse. They’re a great source of fiber, plus they’re packed with minerals (potassium, calcium and zinc), B vitamins (including folic acid) and lean protein.
This recipe makes a substantial mid-day meal or delightful dinner for two. I hope you enjoy! Give this a try and let me know how it turns out!
A few notes for the cook
King salmon, the state fish of Alaska, is the fattiest and highest in omega-3 fatty acids among all wild Pacific salmon species.
These stellar qualities make king salmon the richest and most flavorful wild Pacific salmon available.
To preserve their fresh-caught quality, Vital Choice’s premium quality king salmon is line-harvested by hand from small boats, immediately put on ice, and then flash-frozen within a few hours of leaving the water.
One note: the Vital Choice Wild Pacific King Salmon portions I happened to have on hand were not skinless. However, a sharp paring knife was all that was needed to carefully de-skin the portion before wrapping it in prosciutto.
Prosciutto-Wrapped King Salmon with Lentil and Arugula Salad
1 cup green lentils
4 cups fresh baby arugula (or other fresh green)
½ cup Italian parsley leaves (or other fresh herb), roughly chopped
2 teaspoons grapefruit juice (left over from sectioning, see below)
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
½ teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 pink grapefruit
2-6 oz. portions of Vital Choice Wild Alaskan King Salmon, thawed
2 very thin slices best-quality prosciutto
Preheat the oven to 425º.
Bring 4 cups of water plus 1 teaspoon salt to boil. Stir in lentils, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until lentils are tender, stirring occasionally. Drain lentils and set aside.
While the lentils cook, section your grapefruit. Using a sharp knife, remove the top and bottom peel, including all of the white pith, to expose the flesh. Cutting down the sides from top to bottom, remove the peel completely, so all that remains is the fruit. Carefully cut along the side membrane to remove each individual section of grapefruit. Reserve the remaining membranes and flesh for the vinaigrette.
To make the vinaigrette, squeeze the remaining grapefruit membrane and flesh over a strainer to remove the excess juice. Add two tablespoons grapefruit juice to a bowl with white wine vinegar, olive oil, Dijon mustard and whisk to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Combine warm lentils, baby arugula and chopped Italian parsley in a large bowl. Dress with vinaigrette and season with salt and pepper.
Line a baking sheet with foil and season salmon portions with salt and pepper. Wrap each skinless salmon filet with one piece of prosciutto, tucking the ends underneath the salmon portion. Drizzle each piece lightly with olive oil and roast in the center of the oven 6-8 minutes, until prosciutto crisps and salmon is flaky yet still moist.
Serve salmon portions with lentil salad and grapefruit sections. Enjoy!
Adapted from content initially published by Vital Choice Wild Seafood & Organics.