Delicious sesame crusted salmon over coconut rice with a cucumber avocado salad + miso ginger dressing. A beautiful symphony of flavors and textures in every bite!
Serves 3-4, gluten and dairy free
This weeknight dinner is another new all-time favorite. All components of this dish complement each other perfectly… it’s refreshing, savory, umami, creamy, crunchy, and incredibly tasty.
We’re starting with a bed of creamy + light coconut rice that has a touch of natural sweetness. On top of that is oven-baked sesame crusted salmon; I used a mix of white and black sesame seeds, but feel free to use whatever you have on hand. We’re topping it all off with a cucumber avocado salad to add a crunchy, creamy, and refreshing component to the dish. Drizzle everything with that miso ginger dressing (which I could absolutely eat with a spoon- it’s that good!)
Find the full recipe for this impressive weeknight dinner below!
For the coconut rice:
1 cup dry Thai jasmine rice, rinsed and strained
1 ¼ cup coconut milk (full fat)
½ cup water
½ tsp salt
½ tbsp honey
Combine all ingredients in a small pot. Place over medium-high heat until the mixture begins to bubble, then cover with a lid and reduce to a simmer. Keep the lid on and allow the rice to cook for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, keep the lid on but turn off the heat, and allow to steam for another 10 minutes before using a spoon or fork to fluff the rice. Set aside with the lid on to keep warm before serving.
For the miso ginger dressing:
2” knob of ginger peeled
1 slice of onion (any kind, I used red)
1 clove garlic
¼ cup miso paste
¼ cup rice vinegar
3 tbsp honey
2 tbsp tamari or coconut aminos
1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Water to thin as needed
Combine all ingredients in a small blender. Add water to thin as needed, then set aside to allow the flavors to come together while you prepare the salmon and cucumber salad.
For the sesame crusted salmon*:
1 lb wild sockeye or king salmon, cut into 3-4 filets, skin removed
Salt, pepper, and ½ tsp garlic powder
Black and white sesame seeds (I used about 1-1.5oz each color, adjust based on what you have)
One egg
1 tsp olive or sesame oil
First, start by preheating your oven to 400F. Pat your salmon filets dry. Season each filet with salt and pepper, as well as the garlic powder.
Crack an egg into a bowl and add the tsp of olive/sesame oil. Whisk to combine. Then, add your sesame seeds to a different plate (if you’re using white and black, mix them to combine the colors).
Start by dipping a salmon filet into the egg mixture and allow the excess to drip off. Immediately dip into the sesame seeds, coating all sides. Transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet and repeat the process for the rest of the salmon filets.
Once you have all your salmon on the pan, place in the oven and bake for approx. 10 minutes, or until salmon is at 130 degrees internal/flakes with a fork. While your salmon is baking, make your cucumber salad.
Cucumber avocado salad:
3 Persian cucumbers, chopped into small pieces
2 small hass or 1 large avocado, chopped into small pieces
Handful cilantro, minced
5-6 mint leaves, minced
Juice of one small lime
Splash of rice vinegar (to taste)
Salt (to taste)
Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Once combined, gather your components once the salmon is done baking to begin plating.
To plate:
Start by adding a good amount of coconut rice to each plate. Top with a sesame crusted salmon filet, a few spoonfuls of the cucumber avocado salad, and a generous drizzle of the miso dressing. Serve with a fresh lime wedge for squeezing over top, then dig in!!! Enjoy, I you love this recipe as much as my family and I did! <3
^some plating inspo for ya ;)
*if you don’t want to go through the egg wash process/coating the entire salmon filet in sesame seeds, you can also just drizzle the salmon with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle sesame seeds on top of each salmon filet. It will not have as much crunch but would still be delicious!
This recipe is truly a dinner winner! Save this post to make it this week and stay tuned for more healthy recipes like this one. For now, have a great day and I’ll see you on the next post!!!
For more updates and content, visit my Instagram @abigailsapron <3
With love,
Abigail