White wine poached salmon with quinoa and arugula

Isn't the title just enough to get your mouth watering?! I came across the original recipe on Epicurious, and I have modified it below to trim down on the calories while maintaining the flavor.

Sometimes when I come across a great looking recipe, all it takes is one esoteric ingredient that I have to hunt for to make me lose interest. This recipe calls for harissa, a North African hot chili sauce. Instead, you can use a generic hot sauce; in that case, you can also play with the recipe below by adding a little garlic, caraway seed, and/or coriander to get a little closer to the flavor of harissa.

Ingredients:

1 cup white wine4 skinless salmon fillets (3 ounces each)1 white onion, sliced3 sprigs thyme1/2 cup quinoa 1/2 cup canned chickpeas, rinsed and drained1/4 cup raisins1 teaspoon turmeric1 teaspoon ground cumin1 teaspoon ground cinnamon1 teaspoon paprika1 teaspoon cayenne pepper2 cups arugulaJuice of 2 lemons4 tablespoons harissa (or generic hot sauce)1/2 cup cilantro leaves
Directions:

1. In a large pot, boil wine and 4 cups water.

2. Add salmon, onion and thyme. Reduce heat to simmer; poach salmon until cooked through, about 7 minutes. Remove salmon; cool.

3. In another large pot, boil 4 cups water. Add quinoa and cook until tender, about 11 minutes (or according to package directions); drain.

4. Mix quinoa, chickpeas, raisins and spices in a bowl; cool.

5. Toss quinoa-chickpea mixture with arugula. Dress salad with lemon juice. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

6. Divide salad and poached salmon among 4 plates. Top each salmon fillet with 1 tablespoon harissa, and garnish with cilantro.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving:

calories: 388
fat: 12g
protein: 24g
carbs: 33g

Enjoy!
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