Salmon is a favorite meal around here. It’s quick, easy, delicious, and super nutritious. Generally, salmon is a midweek meal, because it’s absolutely delicious sprinkled with salt, pepper, and dill, wrapped in a piece of foil, and baked for 25 minutes. Serve with a simple salad, baked potato, or some roasted veggies, and done. Dinner served. Easy peasy.
Lately I’ve been dressing up our salmon a bit, just for fun. The Salmon in Watercress Sauce is a huge hit with both of us (and can also be prepared pretty quickly, with the right ingredients on hand), and now this sweet nut crusted, Pistachio Salmon– topped with cranberry sauce, because they are too good to reserve for meals on just 1 or 2 days a year.
I’d be ecstatic if there was a way to order high quality, wild fish here in Malaysia. I recently read about Sizzlefish, and really wanted to try it. While they aren’t going to deliver it across the Pacific for me, I did order some for my mom who was recently recovering from surgery. I decided fish > flowers when it comes to healing. She loved it, and was impressed with how fresh it tasted. I’m excited to try it out myself when I’m back in the States this Christmas.
If you read my blog regularly, you know I like to use a variety of vegetables as substitutes for starches– not because I think white potatoes are bad for you, and not because I don’t think pasta in moderation is just fine. I love using cauliflower as rice or as a mash (and even though I haven’t put it on the blog yet, I love cauliflower pizza crust!), I’ve used sweet potatoes as a quiche crust, and one of my favorite soup recipes uses a vegetable to form a creamy base.
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Why do I do this?:
- It often lowers the calories/carbs of a meal, and makes it a lighter option.
- Getting a variety of produce, rather than just the “typicals,” is important to me.
So, introducing a vegetable I have plans to use in a few more recipes– Mr. Celriac. If you haven’t tried celriac before (also called celery root), it’s a root vegetable similar to a turnip, but unfortunately, a little less appealing to the eye. It has half the calories and carbs of a white potato, but makes a mash eerily similar to potatoes. It has a celery flavor, but in a very, very good way.
This dish really benefited from a lighter side, since the salmon is rich, the nuts are rich, and even the cranberry sauce adds a bit of decadence.
These pictures were taken from my first trial. While it was delicious, nuts as coarsely ground as pictured will result in a less crunchy topping. More finely ground nuts will bake up crunchier.
This cranberry sauce is making me really look forward to Thanksgiving.
Have you made plans yet? Are you planning what dishes to create yet?
Planning the dishes I want to serve comes before actually planning when/where/ and who will be involved in the actual day. I know for sure these are going to make an appearance on my table this year.
Pistachio Salmon with Cranberry Sauce and Celriac Mash
Ingredients
Salmon
- 2-3 ounce salmon filets
- 1 teaspoon honey
- 1 teaspoon dijon
- 1/4 cup pistachios
- 1/4 teaspoon olive oil
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Cranberry Sauce
- 1/2 cup cranberries
- 1/2 cup water
- 3 tablespoons honey (this will make a tart sauce - more if you like it sweeter)
Celriac Mash
- 1 large celriac (celery root)
- 1/2 tablespoon butter
- 1/4 cup plain unsweetened almond milk (or milk or choice)
- sea salt and black pepper to taste
Instructions
Salmon
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees f.
- Add pistachios to a blender, and blend until ground into a fine flour. The photos are taken with a coarser grind, which will result in a less crunchy topping. A finer grind will bake up crisper.
- Mix pistachio flour with sea salt and pepper, to taste, and then mix in ½ teaspoon olive oil.
- In a small dish, mix the honey and dijon.
- In a baking dish, brush the honey-dijon mixture on the salmon. Dip the top of each salmon fillet in the pistachio mixture and coat well.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes, until salmon is cooked through.
- Increase oven temperature to low broil, and place salmon near the broiler. Continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes, watching carefully to keep nuts from burning.
Cranberry Sauce
- Add fresh or frozen cranberries, water, and honey to a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and boil for 3-4 minutes, until cranberries have popped. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
Celriac Mash
- Peel and chop the celriac into large chunks.
- Add the celriac to a pot with boiling water, and boil for 12-15 minutes, until the chunks are soft all the way through. It will not fall apart as easily as potatoes.
- Drain, and add the cooked celriac to a food processor bowl. Add butter, milk, and salt and pepper. Process for 3-4 minutes. It will take longer for the celriac to form a mash than potatoes, but will eventually smooth out. Celriac doesn't get as smooth as potatoes, but will be thick and creamy.
Nutrition
Thanks for this, Michelle- I’ll have to hunt down some celeriac.
Was this salmon part of your once a week treat? It’s worth it if it is- looks delicious!!!!
You have no idea how amazing this is! (Actually you do….you got to eat it!) Seriously this looks so good! I want this now…really bad! My salmon with honey mustard I had today for dinner pales in comparison, haha!
Rebecca, thanks for leaving such a great comment! I am sure your honey mustard salmon was great– I love salmon prepared just about any way 🙂 But this sure is a fun, festive meal!
Wow – I cannot wait to try this. I never thought of cranberries and salmon together, but with the pistachios, the colors are right and I might just serve it on Christmas Eve!
Tanks for your comment on my blog today too. I’m glad you found mine – so I could find yours!
I’m glad we connected too! Thanks for hopping over here.
Yes, the color combo is stunning here. The salmon is wonderful with or without the cranberries- but the cranberries add that special touch that makes it right for a holiday meal! love the idea to serve it on Christmas Eve.
I had Salmon for lunch yesterday and today…so good! I’ve never had (or heard of celriac) but I’m on a new veggie kick so I’ll look for it. I had leeks for the first time tonight and it was soooo good- I was super surprised LOL
Leeks are awesome. I use them most often for soups. Tomato leek soup– ooh, I need to post that recipe!
Oh my gosh, that looks amazing! I was thinking about Salmon while I was shopping at Whole Foods today. Now I am definitely craving some!
Cauliflower pizza crust? That sounds very intriguing indeed. Can’t wait to see what that’s all about. 🙂
Salmon is a must every week at my house!
Cauliflower pizza crust is awesome– lots of recipes around the web. I’ve been trying to develop a non-dairy one, and will post when that happens!
Girl this is like the perfect winter comfort food and bonus – it’s super healthy too!! Genius recipe seriously!
It was a really wonderful meal. We are having it again tomorrow 🙂
oh i can’t wait for you to get home and try sizzlefish with your recipe creations. you are amazing!
I’m looking forward to getting to try it as well! I was checking out some of your recipes creations on the Sizzlefish site the other day.
I cant wait to try this! I love salmon, pistachios, cranberries, and believe it or not, celery! LOL. My family teases me because I just love to use it in cooking. Thanks! This looks divine!
Thank you! I love all these ingredients to, and it made for a really special looking meal that didn’t take all that long to put together.
This looks amazing! The cranberries with the salmon sound sooo good! I can’t wait to try it. PINNED!
Thanks for pinning Sami! It’s a great dish. I hope you enjoy.
Oh, I am definitely making these. I usually use the celeriac we get at our CSA for soup stock. I’m trying this with it next! I love salmon. We were in Alaska over the summer and I couldn’t get enough of it then! I’ll be sharing this on my Facebook page tomorrow…I just love this recipe!
I love, love, love, LOVE Salmon, especially when the skin gets all crispy. Yum! Unfortunately, that usually means frying it in oil :S But this recipe looks like a viable alternative! The pistachios are sure to add that crunch I love with my salmon dishes. 🙂
I really like the idea of cranberry with salmon. What a powerful duo – nutrient-wise and taste-wise. And, I rarely prepare celriac, but I really must look for it again. It is so different and lovely.
Beauatiful blog!
Thank you Lori! This was a great combination, all around. I love celriac– an overlooked vegetable!
This looks fantastic!! And gorgeous pictures!!! No doubt you featured this week on my faves for #foodiefridays! Thank so much for linking with us!!! Hope to see you again soon.
Thank you Mila! I certainly be back for Foodie Fridays– I found great stuff there as well!
This dish sounds and looks amazing! I adore Salmon! This looks like Christmas on a plate 😀 Thank you for sharing on FF! 🙂
Thank Dini- it is a delicious meal, and a great way to enjoy holiday flavors!
Wow …pistachio salmon cranberry sauce celriac mash definitely looks yummi! I love your recipe cuz it contains healthy ingredients! Thanks a lot for sharing Michelle!
The celriac mash is incredible! A fun twist on potatoes. Thanks for letting me know you enjoyed this post!
Definitely, your pistachio salmon cranberry sauce celriac mash is awesomeness! This is a great recipe Michelle, as you know I made it a short while ago and it was lovely, in fact, have made it again since. Thanks for sharing!
Bella, so good to hear from you! I adore that recipe and it’s been so long since I made it. That celriac mash is such a treat!
Absolutely love your creative idea with pistachio salmon cranberry sauce celeriac mash! Can I post it on my blog? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Robin! This is such a great recipe — need to dig this one out and make it this season! You can definitely repost it. It’s okay for you to list the ingredients, but please link to my site instead of posting the instructions for the recipe. Have a great day!
Rich in proteins and vitamins, this recipe is what you need to restore your energy after a good workout!
wow lovely cake. looks so delicious.
Hello, U write some extraordinarily attractive blogs. I always check back here frequently to see if you have updated
can someone tell me how to get the little avatars to appear in my comments section? thanks!
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