Back to Clean Eating: Salmon Cobb Salad

The fattest holiday of the year is over, which means it is time to get back on track with my healthy diet!  I don’t even mean diet as in starve myself, just eat healthier foods and cut out junk food… although the second part is going very well in all honesty.

My go-to meal for lunch is a salmon cobb salad.  Here’s an acronym I’ve heard of to help you memorize the main ingredients:  

EAT COBB: Egg. Avocado. Tomato. Chicken. Onion. Blue Cheese. Bacon.

I make mine a little different based on personal taste preference.  I use spinach, hard-boiled eggs, avocado, tomatoes (sometimes), and usually salmon, but sometimes I will switch it out with chicken or shrimp.  The basics are all relatively the same though.  My go-to dressings are the Feast from the East Sesame Dressing and I’ve recently been a fan of Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Cooking salmon:  I’ve struggled with finding the perfect time and temperature to bake.  It took a lot of trial and error, but this is what I’ve learned:  if a small filet (fist size) is fully defrosted, 12-15 mins at 400°F is good.  I always wrap mine in foil but I don’t know if it makes a difference or not.   A simple salt and pepper does the trick, add a zest of lemon if you have it.  My roomy recently suggested a garlic & herb seasoning, so I do that too sometimes, but it’s not ideal for my salad.

My very first time baking salmon, I baked at 325°F for 20 mins based on another blogger, but that went terribly wrong.  I ended up leaving it in the oven for a good 45 mins.  Still tasted good in the end.  But my salmon wasn’t fully defrosted to start with… so that’s probably my fault.

I used to pan fry my salmon which only took 10 mins and it’s easier to monitor, but I like baking it more so I don’t have to worry about it and can focus my attention to other things.  & baking it won’t get the smell and smoke everywhere in your kitchen, and seeing how our apartment doesn’t have an actual vent in kitchen… baking is my better option.

If anyone has suggestions on cooking salmon that is not defrosted, another healthy but simple salad, or a light but yummy dressing, please let me know. Thanks! 🙂