Healthy Eating: Food and Health with Healthy Eating Recipes by Lucy Hyland at Food For Living

Healthy Fish recipes and eating with Salmon

The fascinating thing about salmon is that they are born in fresh water, travel to saltwater oceans to live and return to the very place they were born to spawn- now if they are clever enough to do this they they must be good for healthy eating and our brains!

Salmon are a great source of both EPA and DHA, which are the Omega 3 fatty acids that have been shown again and again to have an anti inflammatory effect on the body, they are great for feeding the brain, and boosting your heart health, Salmon are also a great source of protein (especially tryptophan which is the amino acid involved in feeling good!), selenium (great anti cancer) and Vitamins B3 and B12.

If you can find it (and its almost impossible) wild pacific salmon is delicious and much richer in Omega 3 that their farmed counterparts. However, you are more likely to find organic farmed salmon in the shops, the Scottish and West of Ireland have great reputations. There are a number of concerns with ordinary farmed salmon (they have low levels of protein. Omega  3s and higher in saturated fats) so try to avoid. You can also buy canned wild salmon so check the label and try to buy soaked in spring water.

When buying, try to buy from a display rather than pre packaged and buy salmon that smells more of seawater than fish. A good way to tell if it’s fresh is to press it with you finger, the flesh should spring back, not leave your fingerprint in it. When you get home, use straight away or take the salmon out of the plastic wrapping and place in an airtight plastic bag and keep for one more day – that’s it!

When cooking salmon, baking (wrapping it in baking paper with anything from lemon juice to garlic and herb mix) and grilling are best but it rarely takes more than 10 minutes to cook.