It feels so good to be back creating recipes to share with you all. Blogging is something that I try to make space for when I am craving creativity, writing and connecting but also allow myself to take a step back when I am feeling like it’s too much on my plate. I had a baby last year and spent most of the time during pregnancy and the first months with my baby just soaking up the experience and being extremely present. Now with consistent longer naps and a strong desire to do some more things for me, I’m back! While we take our baby out and about for lunch and activities with us very regularly, we try not to mess with bed time meaning most dinners at home which has allowed me tons of time for family recipes and cooking. It’s something I was fearful I would not love anymore due to the time involved but I have maintained my true love for cooking in this new season of life!
Salmon bowls are something I make very regularly for dinners – they are so easy and nutritious. I’m a big proponent of eating well balanced whole meals that are sustainable for healthy living. We don’t diet around here, just try to eat whole foods and a balanced diet. This bowl gets us some carbs, protein and veggies and is super filling and tasty! Instead of making a sauce that we pour over the fish at the end I make a sauce that we finish cooking the salmon in. It’s the way I have been cooking my salmon for years and it creates such a flavorful and perfectly seared salmon! Cutting the salmon into cubes the way we do for this bowl allows us to sear each side fairly quickly leaving each bite tender on the inside… it is oh so good! We add in the bok choy which I feel is such an underrated vegetable, it tastes so good with asian cuisine inspired dishes and is the perfect mix of crunchy and tender. Both the salmon and bok choy are cooked in sesame oil sharing garlic and ginger in their seasoning to pull the whole bowl together. Oh, and did I mentioned they are cooked in the same pan? We love a good moment to save washing one more pan.
As always with my recipes I want you to know that you can absolutely customize this to your liking. I add hot peppers, sesame seeds, spicy mayo and chives on top of the bowl but if you don’t like any of these or don’t have them on hand and want to save the money, leave them out! I also love to add avocado to this bowl, which is not pictured. It’s the perfect some balance to the spicy flavors. If you have a sesame allergy in the family, you can swap for avocado oil! You could easily add cucumber, radish or anything else that sounds good to you with this bowl and/or season with soy sauce if you prefer things with a little more powerful savory flavor. If you don’t have spicy mayo you could use sriracho and mayo, preferably kewpie mayo! It’s the best, especially with asian cuisine flavors. If you don’t have sushi rice, you could use quinoa, brown rice or basmati for an equally delicious base! Have fun with it!
Is This Recipe Family Friendly?
Not as is, but it could be made family friendly. There is honey in the sauce on the salmon which is not safe for children under one year old. You could leave the honey out if your child is under one year or you don’t want the sugar. If you miss the sweet component you could always drizzle a little honey on your own bowl. Salmon can be an allergen so make sure baby or child has had salmon before. Sesame is also a common allergen so I would encourage you to make sure you have ruled out sesame as an allergy before feeding your child a meal with so much sesame used in the cooking process and the seeds on top. In addition to this just make sure that you leave out any hot pepper if desired from your childs bowl and the foods are cut or shredded in the appropriate ways for your childs age which you can find on the landing pages for each of the foods linked above from Solid Starts website.
Sesame Soy Salmon & Bok Choy Bowls
Ingredients
Rice
- 1 cup sushi rice
Salmon
- 2 salmon filets
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tsp minced ginger
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 clove minced garlic
- 1 tsp honey
- 1 tsp chili crunch
Bok Choy
- 1 bunch bok choy
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 pinch minced ginger
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- salt & pepper to taste
- optional, few drops of fish sauce
Optional Toppings / Add Ins
- 1 chopped hot pepper
- 2 tsp spicy mayo
- 2 tsp chopped chives
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 avocado, sliced
- 1 tsp black sesame seeds
Instructions
- Cook sushi rice per package instructions, yields approx 2-3 cups cooked
- In one small bowl mix together all ingredients from the salmon ingredients section (except the salmon itself). Stir together and set aside.
- Rinse the bok choy, slice the bottom off the bok choy just enough so that each stalk separates. Pat dry and set aside.
- Remove skin from salmon if needed and cut into approximately one inch cubes.
- Heat a medium sized skillet over medium heat, add in the sesame oil, optional fish sauce, garlic & ginger from the bok choy ingredients section and cook about one minute until fragrant.
- Add in bok choy in a single layer across the pan. Cover pan to allow steam to stay in. Rotate or gently stir around the bok choy every minute for a total of 4 minutes until wilted and softened. Remove bok choy from pan and set aside on a plate.
- If pan still seems well oiled, you're good, but you can drizzle a tiny bit more sesame oil for cooking the salmon if preferred.
- Add salmon cubes to pan and sear about 1 minute each side for a total of 5-6 minutes. When you're about 4 minutes in pour the salmon sauce into the pan and let salmon finish cooking in the sauce. Gently stir salmon cubes when finished cooking to get evenly coated with the sauce.
- Assemble bowls. Start with rice and top with cooked bok choy and salmon. Add all your optional toppings depending on what you like! I personally love adding some hot pepper and spicy mayo balanced out by some avocado slices. Chives, sesame seeds and soy sauce to taste are all great add ons as well, if you have them on hand!
I hope you enjoy!
Xo, Luca