Salmon, Avacado & Sweet Potato Kale Salad

I found this recipe on Pinterest but it comes from a Buzz Feed post for a GetFit Challenge. There were five salad recipes but I chose the salmon salad to make and it was amazing! It was so simple, so fresh but full of flavor. I thought I’d re-post the recipe here for others and for me to find again later on.

Makes 1 serving

For this recipe you need to roast a salmon fillet. If you want, you can roast several 6-ounce fillets at once, then eat leftover fillets for other lunches and dinners. Leftover roasted salmon will keep for up to 4 days in an airtight container in the fridge.

INGREDIENTS
1 6-ounce fillet salmon, skinless
kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
2 ¼-inch slices of lemon
juice of ½ lemon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup kale leaves, stems removed, leaves sliced into ribbons ½-inch thick (I used baby kale)
½ cup roasted sweet potato cubes (recipe below)
⅓ avocado, peeled and diced into ½-inch cubes
½ English cucumber, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon chopped dill (optional, but recommended)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley leaves

If you’re on the 1,400 or 1,700 calorie plan: Prepare this recipe as written. 519 calories, 23 g fat (3.8 g saturated fat), 29 g carbohydrate (9.7 g dietary fiber, 9.2 g sugars), 49 g protein
If you’re on the 2,000 or 2,300 calorie plan: increase to 1 ½ cups kale and ¾ cup roasted sweet potato. 595 calories, 23 g fat (3.8 g saturated fat), 46 g carbohydrate (12.4 g dietary fiber, 15.1 g sugars), 51 g protein

PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Season the salmon fillet with a little bit of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper on all sides. Lay the lemon slices next to each other on the baking sheet, then place the seasoned salmon fillet on top of the lemon slices. Roast in the preheated oven until the salmon is opaque on the outside and flakes easily with a fork, but still pink on the inside. A salmon fillet 1-inch thick will take about 8 minutes to cook; a thicker fillet will take about an additional 4 minutes per extra ½-inch of thickness. Let the salmon cool at least 5 minutes, then cut it into 1-inch cubes.
In a medium mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice with a pinch of salt and some freshly ground pepper. Whisk the mixture, then add the olive oil while continuing to whisk. Add the kale ribbons and use your hands to massage the vinaigrette into the kale until it starts to soften, about 30 seconds. Add avocado, roasted sweet potato cubes, cucumber, and herbs, and toss everything together.
Transfer to a bowl and top with the cubed salmon. If you cooked the salmon ahead of time, it’s fine to eat it cold in the salad.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Makes about 2 cups

INGREDIENTS
½ teaspoon olive oil
2 medium sweet potatoes
pinch of kosher salt
freshly ground pepper
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Brush the parchment with the olive oil.
Wash and dry the sweet potatoes, then cut them into ½-inch cubes. Spread the cubed sweet potatoes out over the baking sheet and season them with a little bit of salt and pepper. Roast in the preheated oven until they’re soft and lightly browned, 20-25 minutes.
Let the sweet potatoes cool slightly before eating; cool leftovers completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Pin-Teresting | Chewy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars

I am attempting to make more of our snacks instead of buying them. I realized I was overspending at the grocery store because of snack bars, fruit snacks and things like that. The boys snack a lot too so anything I bought didn’t last long.

The first thing I am attempting to kick are the expensive Zbars from Clif bars. The boys love them and I felt better about them eating those than other sugar loaded bars. But at $4-5 a box and two boys…yeah, that’s $20-30 a month I don’t want to spend.

I made a chewy granola bar about 2 weeks ago and they were a hit but I wasn’t too crazy about them because they had a lot of honey and brown sugar. This week I found a new recipe with just honey. William and I made them together yesterday and with fingers crossed, I took a bag of them to the park for snacks. Well, they were a hit (and not just with the boys!). I was worried they wouldn’t be sweet enough but they are wonderful.

They aren’t as chewy as store bought bars, obviously or even the ones I made previously. I think I need to use a smaller pan next time and make them a bit thicker so they don’t fall apart as easily. I will also only use 2 tsp of cinnamon next time instead of 3. I felt like it was pretty strong but the boys didn’t seem to notice. I also added a 1/3 c. of mini chocolate chips.

Recipe | Chewy Oatmeal Breakfast Bars 

I may tweak this recipe a bit in other ways next time too. Like adding puff riced cereal or something like that, to change it up a bit. There will probably always be chocolate chips in them though.

Apple Almond Squares | Clean Eating

Apple Almond Squares
12 squares

1/2 c almond flour
1/2 c brown rice flour
2 T stabilized rice bran, optional (I did not use)
2 organic evaporated cane juice (I didn’t have this so I used 2 T sugar, probably didn’t need it at all)
2 T ground flaxseed
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t ground cinnamon
1/4 t sea salt
Pinch of ground nutmeg
1 egg plus 1 egg white
1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
2 T sunflower oil (I used grapeseed oil)
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 McIntosh apple, peeled, cored and chopped (I used a Gala)
1/2 c unsweetened raisins (I didn’t have any, don’t care for raisins in baked goods)
1/4 c sliced raw unsalted almonds (also didn’t use, none on hand)

Topping (Since I didn’t have either of these, I just sprinkled a little cinnamon on the top before baking)
1 T plus 1 t Sucanat
1/8 t arrowroot powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9 inch square baking dish with parchment paper, leaving 1 to 2 inches of overhang on opposite sides.

In a medium bowl, whisk flours, bran, cane juice, flaxseeds, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, mix egg, egg white, applesauce, oil and vanilla. Add flour mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in apple, raisins and almonds. Spread evenly in dish. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in center. Lift edges of parchment paper to remove bars from dish. Cut into 12 squares (I made them a bit smaller and got 16).

Prepare topping: In a spice grinder, pulse Sucanat and arrowroot into a fine poweder. Sprinkle over bars. Store in refrigerator for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.

Recipe from Clean Eating Magazine | June 2013 Issue

Here are a few of my other favorite clean eating, gluten free recipes.
Healthy Almond Meal Banana Muffins
Maple Banana Nut Muffins

Enjoy!!