Sesame Ginger Salmon with Asian Noodle Salad

Let me tell you about a few of my favorite ingredients: salmon… ginger… sesame… napa cabbage… lime.  Anybody with me?  If so, you NEED to make this.

But wait!! Before you go down to look at the recipe, do not be intimidated!  This recipe looks complicated, but it isn’t really.  And it’s for an entire dinner, not just part of the meal.  I promise it’s worth any of the trouble!

I can always rely on How Sweet Eats to provide delicious and creative recipes.  And gorgeous food pictures.  I need a tutorial from her.  I pinned her Toasted Sesame Ginger Salmon recipe last year some time and I’m so glad I did!  I replicated the general idea of her salmon recipe.  I tweaked it a little, then came up with the noodle salad to accompany the salmon.

To keep this meal gluten free I used GF soy sauce and brown rice noodles.  

Sesame Ginger Salmon

• 1 1/2 lbs. wild caught Pacific salmon, 2 pieces, skin removed
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

      Marinade for Salmon; Salad Dressing for Noodles

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 4 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 4 Tbsp brown sugar
• 4 Tbsp soy sauce (GF)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3 Tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
• 1/4 cup lime juice, fresh

     Glaze for Salmon and Salad

• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp soy sauce (GF)
• 1/2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
• 1/2 tsp sriracha

Asian Noodle Salad

• 1/2 box brown rice noodles, cooked and cooled (add to boiling water for 1-2 min, drain and rinse with cold water); I used Annie Chun’s Maifun Brown Rice Noodles
• 1 head napa cabbage, leafy part, chopped thin
• 1 1/2 cups shredded carrot, lightly steamed
• 1 1/2 cups edamame, shelled, lightly steamed
• handful cilantro, rough chop
• 3 green onions, chopped
• 2 Tbsp sesame seeds, toasted

1. Make the glaze in a food processor.  You could just mix it up in a bowl if you don’t have a food processor.  After mixing, store in a squirt bottle or jar.

2. Make the marinade in the food processor. Set half aside.

3. Place the salmon and the other half of the marinade in a dish.  Let salmon marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes.

4. Toast all sesame seeds in a dry sauté pan and set aside.

5. Prep and mix the salad ingredients: steam the carrots and edamame and cool; chop the cabbage, cilantro, and onion.  Cook and drain the noodles; rinse with cold water.

6. Line a pan with foil, then place a rack on the pan.  Grease with cooking spray, and place the marinated salmon filets on the rack.  Broil for around 10 minutes.

7. Mix up the salad (noodles, vegetables, cilantro, 2 Tbsp sesame seeds) and the other half of the marinade/salad dressing in a large bowl.

8. Plate the noodle salad and the salmon.  Squirt some of the glaze over the dish.  Add sesame seeds and green onions to the salmon, and more cilantro to the top of the salad.  Enjoy!

**Note: You could prep and mix up everything for the salad ahead of time and refrigerate.  If you do that, just add the dressing a few minutes before serving.

**Another Note: I think chopped, toasted peanuts would be delicious to add to the salad!

I mixed up the vegetables before adding the noodles.

Another picture of the finished product.

UPDATE: We had leftovers of the noodle salad, so the next night I made Sesame Ginger chicken and served it over the noodle salad mixed with spinach.  These are pictured below.  Mine had mostly spinach because I had already eaten some of the noodles for lunch – can’t go overboard on the rice!

To make the chicken, I marinated 1 boneless chicken breasts, sliced down the middle to make it thinner, in a couple tablespoons of the leftover marinade/salad dressing for an hour.  Then I just cooked it in a sauté pan and shredded it with two forks.  Mix up the rest of the marinade/salad dressing with the leftover noodle salad.  Add some chopped fresh spinach, sesame seeds, and the leftover glaze.  Enjoy!