I’ve been told you can class raw food as being cooked under 48 degrees Celsius or 118 Fahrenheit … I wondered if you could cook salmon at this temperature and found a load of people on the internet who have claimed to have done it.
I’ve never done it before, but here goes! (It turned out well!)
First we tend to the salmon as this will take at least 60 minutes, depending on how you want it. I like my fish cooked depending on the type. Salmon is lovely tender and undercooked (In my opinion) and I prefer the fish to be cooked on the outside but rare in the middle.
So I’ve set my oven at 50 degrees C and prepared the fish. I am using a fish supplier that fishes in a sustainable way because I’m worried about overfishing in seas. You can find this is many supermarkets and fishmongers.
I’ve washed the fillets – you can use steaks if you like – season VERY well with salt and pepper (otherwise fish can be too bland), and put slices of lemon on top for a gentle infused flavour. Place in an oven dish, like my charity shop Le Cruset dish (major find) and pop in the oven when its ready.
For the 2 fillets, weighing in total 270 grams, I cooked at a temperature of 50 degrees C for 1 hour.
Second, the salad… RAW and ORGANIC.
I used the following ingredients, but you can use whatever you think works best together… I like a mixture of textures and tastes and I’m more concerned with getting the right nutrients. And anyway – it’s the dressing that brings it all together and provides the over-arching taste:
Lettuce torn by hand – a few leaves
Ribbons of a third of a courgette – sliced with a vegetable peeler
2 Broccoli flourets – I break them off at the smallest level and keep the stalks as snacks or for Columbus (my rabbit)
About 6 Green beans chopped into thirds
1 leek finely sliced
1 beetroot finely sliced
3 medium sized mushrooms roughly chopped
1 turnip finely sliced
A handful spinkling of canned chickpeas – you could soak chickpeas overnight instead of using canned
I mix all the ingredients together by hand and serve into salad bowls for me and my hubby.
To prepare the salad dressing, I get an old jar of some sort, chop up chives, stick them in the jar, add lots of pepper and just enough salt, 2 teaspoons of apple cider vinegar, 3 teaspoons of virgin olive oil (that Mr Zontou made himself in Zakinthos – thanks!) a couple of big dollops of soured cream, put the lod on and shake it all up!
Take and adjust your ingredients according to your preference. I like my dressings to be tangy, whether thats with vinegar or lemon, so this recipe is a little more on the tangier side. I you prefer, you could hold back the vinegar, adding less than the olive oil, for a more subtle flavour.
For more interesting, cheesier dressings, add cream cheese, parmesan, blue cheese, goats cheese etc. Even though I’m not eating much dairy (I’m trying to cut this out really), my hubby, Roop can’t live without it and the dressing is our ‘compromise’.
When the fish is ready, add it to the salad, drizzle over the dressing, add toasted sesame and sunflower seeds if you like (not raw obviously) and enjoy!
Roop’s verdict: ‘Salads too ‘raw’ for me but the fish is tasty and tender.’
My verdict: ‘The fish is perfect for me and the salad is earthy, crunchy and best with LOTS of dressing!’
I’m not sure you can get much healthier than this for lunch! Well you could if you had a bowl of fruit and a yummy fresh juice for afters! See my other blogs!)
