Thai Salmon & Wild Rice Lunch Bowl

Thai Salmon & Wild Rice Lunch Bowls deliver blissful bites of flaky salmon, fresh asparagus & wild rice all wrapped up in a tangy, spicy Thai style dressing. 

Since early February I’ve been living a very simple lunchtime life consisting mainly of using up leftovers I’ve found in the fridge.  Now, that may sound very clean and frugal, but the truth is, I’ve been having some fairly monotonous lunches lately.  Last week I decided that it was time to break out of this rut I’d fallen into and give my lunch some welly. Off I went to investigate the contents of my fridge and store cupboard with fresh eyes….

Two minutes later I grabbed a cooked salmon fillet from the fridge. It had technically been earmarked by my Hubby for his lunch next day. Is that theft? Can you even commit theft from your own fridge? Since I was planning on sharing my creation with him as he was working from home, I decided I could not be labelled a thief. Conscience clear, away I went to concoct this flavour-packed Thai Salmon Wild Rice Lunch Bowl for us both to enjoy. In the end, Chris was really pleased I’d pilfed that salmon on 2 counts:

1. His weekday lunch was made for him (that never happens in this house)
2. He loved eating his lunch bowl. Not only was it tasty but it was also totally different to anything he would have come up with himself

Note that I haven’t called this Thai Salmon & Wild Rice mix a salad even though there’s plenty of veg and herbs in the mix. What set’s this dish apart from a true salad is the comforting serving of rice that’s included.  After all, we’re only just tiptoeing towards spring in my neighbourhood.

I decided to use a dressing that is based on traditional Thai flavours:

• lime
• fish sauce
• chilli
• mint
• coriander

This means each forkful delivers a taste that is lively, fresh, spicy and generally so very yummy it’s hard to resist.

I’ve made this Thai Salmon Wild Rice Lunch Bowl again this week (watch out for that new lunch rut appearing). I think it’s the combination of the salty-spicy-zesty boom from the dressing, mixed with the cooling mint and coriander, the crunch from the asparagus & onions and the slightly chewy texture from the mixed rice that keeps me coming back for more.

I think I may just be falling back in love with lunchtime.

Thai Salmon & Wild Rice Lunch Bowl

Jane Saunders

Thai Salmon & Wild Rice Lunch Bowls deliver blissful bites of flaky salmon, fresh asparagus & wild rice all wrapped up in a tangy, spicy Thai style dressing.

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Course: lunch, Salad

Cuisine: Thai

Keyword: rice salad, Thai salad, wild rice salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the bowl mix:

• 2 Salmon fillets (skinless, cooked)
• 200 g/ 7oz rice Wild Rice Mix - I used Biona
• 250 g/ 9oz Asparagus stems - not too fat if you can choose
• 20 g/ 1oz Fresh coriander - reserve a few leaves for garnish
• 20 g/ 1oz Fresh mint - reserve a few leaves for garnish
• 6 Salad onions

For the Dressing:

• 3 tbsp Fish sauce
• 4 tbsp Lime juice
• 1 tsp Palm sugar
• 1 Garlic clove - peeled and chopped fine
• 1/2 Hot red chilli - deseeded and chopped fine (see notes)

Instructions

• Cook the rice according to the pack instructions. Set aside to cool
• Trim the woody ends from the asparagus. Finely slice the remaining asparagus on the diagonal, plunge into boiling water for 1 minute, then refresh in cold water. Drain and set aside
• Finely slice the salad onions and pick the coriander and mint leaves from their stalks. If the mint leaves are large, rip them into smaller pieces
• Once the rice has cooled, add the asparagus, salad onions, mint and coriander. Flake the salmon into the bowl and and stir to combine
• Make the dressing by mixing all ingredients in a bowl until the sugar dissolves
• Pour the dressing over the salad, mix gently and spoon into bowls. Top with the reserved coriander and mint leaves and serve immediately

Notes

1. Biona Organic Wild Rice Mix contains red Camargue, white long grain and Canadian Wild rice. I think that brown rice would also work particularly well, but plain ol' white rice would be fine too. 2. You can adjust the amount of chilli according to your tastes. The 1/2 chilli suggestion is just my guide based on what a person who enjoys fairly spice food might like to eat at lunchtime. [/recipe]

Have you tried this recipe?Mention @jane_littlesugarsnaps or tag #littlesugarsnaps!