Eating oily fish once or twice a week may increase your lifespan, primarily due to its high omega-3 levels. Of course, you have to consider that most fish sold today may have contamination issues, but I believe that if you make really wise choices, the benefits can outweigh the risks.
So if you’re going to serve fish for dinner, I recommend you use wild Alaskan salmon.
To further enhance salmon’s nutritional content, why not serve it with superfoods kale and coconut? Here’s one recipe that’s bursting with flavor and nutritional goodness.
For the kale
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons coconut oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 bunch kale, chopped
1½ cups coconut milk
Salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
- Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the ginger and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes.
- Add the kale, sauté, stirring constantly for 5 minutes.
- Add the coconut milk and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce the heat, and simmer until kale is tender.
For the salmon
Ingredients:
6 wild Alaskan salmon steaks
4 tablespoons raw butter
4 tablespoons coconut oil
4 tablespoons minced ginger
1 cup sesame seeds
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
Procedure:
- Preheat oven to 475°F.
- In a small pan, melt the butter and oil with the ginger.
- Brush the butter, oil, and ginger on the pieces of salmon. Roll the salmon in the sesame seeds. Place the salmon on an oiled sheet pan and refrigerate for about 15 minutes.
- Place the salmon in the oven and roast until the sesame seeds are brown and the salmon is rare inside, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
This recipe makes 6 servings.
Coconut Kale with Sesame-Crusted Salmon Cooking Tips
I recommend buying only Wild Alaskan salmon, which is one of the absolute best, both in terms of nutrition and potential contamination. Look for labels like “Alaskan salmon” and “sockeye salmon,” as Alaskan sockeye is not allowed to be farmed. Avoid “Atlantic salmon,” as these varieties typically come from fish farms.
Examine the flesh of the fish to determine its quality – aside from the bright red flesh that’s loaded with astaxanthin, look for thin white stripes (fat marks), which indicate that the salmon is very lean.
As for kale, remember that there are multiple varieties, ranging from curly kale to dinosaur kale. Those with smaller leaves are usually more tender and have a milder flavor than those with large leaves. Make sure to look for firm, deeply colored leaves with hardy stems. Avoid those that have brown or yellow leaves, and contain holes.
I also advise you to choose organic kale, or better yet, grown your own. Store fresh kale in the refrigerator, unwashed, and in a plastic storage bag. Make sure you eat or cook it as soon as you can, because the longer it sits, the more bitter its flavor becomes.
Coconut Kale with Sesame-Crusted Salmon Nutrition Facts Calories 568 Total Fat 53 g Carbohydrates 16 g Protein 16 g
Why Is Coconut Kale with Sesame-Crusted Salmon Good for You?
The recipe above contains three superfoods that can have a profound influence on your health, mainly:
Wild Alaskan Salmon
Because wild Alaskan salmon only eat what nature programmed them to eat, they have a more complete nutritional profile, which includes micronutrients, omega-3 fats EPA and DHA, vitamins, minerals, protein, and antioxidants.
One particular antioxidant that you can get from wild Alaskan salmon is astaxanthin, which gives it its pink or red-colored flesh. I believe that this carotenoid is one of the most beneficial antioxidants nature has to offer. Astaxanthin’s benefits are so numerous that I’ve written several articles about its many activities, such as eye and heart health, improved athletic performance, and protection from UV damage.
Kale
Kale’s nutritional density is unparalleled among other green leafy vegetables. For one, it contains all nine essential amino acids that are needed to form proteins within the human body, plus nine other non-essential ones. No wonder it’s been dubbed “the new beef.” What’s more, the amino acids in kale are more easily extracted by your body than those in meat.
Kale is also loaded with vitamins A (beta-carotene) and K, calcium, magnesium, and antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin.
Coconut (Coconut Oil and Coconut Milk)
Both coconut oil and coconut milk (made from the expressed juice of coconut meat and water) are highly valuable in terms of their fat content, which are essential for:
- Promoting heart health
- Supporting your immune system health
- Promoting weight loss
- Providing you with an immediate energy source
- Supporting your healthy metabolism
- Supporting proper thyroid gland function
Fifty percent of the fat in coconut oil is lauric acid, a medium-chain fatty acid that is easily digested and absorbed, and converted into energy rather than fat. Lauric acid is also converted by your body into monolaurin, which has antimicrobial, antifungal, and antibacterial properties. What’s more, coconut oil is the ideal oil for all types of cooking, as it is stable enough to resist mild heat-induced damage.