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Blood Orange Salmon With Turnip Noodles

Change up your usual salmon dinner and try this blood orange salmon with turnip noodles…

blood orange salmon with parsnip noodles

I think I’m pretty intuitive. So, the other day when I “felt” that people were craving a more substantial dinner than I’ve been providing lately, I just went with it. Haha… the looks I was getting from my non-vegan crew because I’m in a vegan phase, really could have been read my anyone — no special intuition necessary! I felt the love when I served this blood orange salmon with turnip noodles.

I always honor dinner requests. Well, almost always — but if I can, I do. It’s fun for me to create and cook dishes to satisfy whatever anyone is craving at that particular time. Lately, I’ve been on a vegan kick. Unfortunately for me, not everyone else who I’ve been feeding shares that same love of vegan food… So, when the request was made for fish, I was happy to oblige!

Sometimes when I get a request, I pour over saved blog posts, dog-eared cookbooks, and a mass of unorganized post-it notes that I’m embarrassed to say are stuck every where on my counter where there is any surface space left. This time, I remembered several recipes I had seen for salmon dishes that included vegetable noodles. One of those inspirational recipes comes from one of my favorite blogs, Foodie Crush.

I think this dish would be good with grapefruit, oranges, or tangerines, but really, just look at the pretty color of these blood oranges. Anytime I see these beauties at the market, I buy a few and fit them into whatever recipes I can. This is the first time I ever tried turnip noodles, and I have to say that they are awesome. You can either spiralize your own turnips or, if you are as lucky as I was to find them pre-noodled, buy at least one big package!

If you love salmon as much as I do, you should also try my recipe for Slow Roasted Salmon With Smoked Salmon Rollups.

blood orange salmon with parsnip noodles

Here are some of the great healing ingredients in this recipe for blood orange salmon with turnip noodles:

Salmon is the perfect food to nourish the blood and the yin. It’s especially great for women because it raises fertility levels by promoting a healthy endometrial lining. Salmon is also great for anyone who is in need of additional iron. Be sure to buy wild salmon because the levels of mercury are lower than in farmed salmon. This beautiful fish also contains large amounts of omega-3 fatty acids, making it a good food source to combat breast cancer, Alzheimer’s, asthma, depression and diabetes. Lately there’s also been a lot of evidence that salmon is great at reducing intestinal inflammation and that it’s also good for your joints and muscles.

There are a lot of reasons to eat turnips. They are great for indigestion, and can help relieve that horrible bloated feeling we all get sometimes by reducing excess gas and diarrhea. Research shows that turnips contain a substance that may reduce your risk of colon, prostate, and lung cancer. In Chinese medicine turnips (wu jing) are known to help reduce inflammation and phlegm, and they can even help lessen your cough.

Blood Oranges are oranges with extra anthocyanins. Anthocyanins are compounds found in many plant-based foods. These compounds can help prevent certain cancers and can help with brain function. Oranges, of any kind, will help boost your levels of vitamins A, B and C. In Chinese medicine oranges have been used for many years to help coughs, colds and anorexia. Lately, oranges have been widely touted for their ability to help heal colon cancer. I peel my oranges and lay the rinds in the sun to dry, and save them for tea or for cooking because the orange rinds are an actual Chinese herb. I dry out the peels of oranges, tangerines, clementines… whatever I have. Dried tangerine peel, or “chen pi” as it’s known in Chinese medicine, is one of the greatest and most easily accessible herbs around. It’s especially good for digestive issues like abdominal discomfort, distention, fullness, bloating, belching, and nausea. It’s also great if you have a cough with a heavy or stuffy chest.

Garlic is amazing in its antiviral and antibacterial capabilities. Garlic is actually a Chinese herb (Da Suan). It’s used to kill toxins and parasites and also to reduce swelling in the body. It’s what I call a great “A” herb: anesthetic, antibacterial, anti fungal, antioxidant, antiviral, etc….

blood orange salmon with parsnip noodles

Blood Orange Salmon With Turnip Noodles
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Recipe type: fish, seafood, vegetable noodles, paleo
Cuisine: recipe inspired by: Foodie Crush
Author:
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-6
This dish is beautiful, delicious, healthy, and so impressive. It's easy enough to make on a weeknight, but it's impressive enough to serve to your guests!
Ingredients
  • For turnip noodles:
  • 1 lb turnip noodles (either spiralize your own with a few turnips, or buy a package of pre-noodled turnips). ** Feel free to use whatever type of veggie noodles you like here if turnips aren't your thing...
  • 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • sea salt and black pepper, to taste
  • 2 scallions, sliced
  • 5 large garlic cloves, smashed
  • For salmon:
  • 2 Tbs plus 1-tsp coconut sugar
  • 1 blood orange, zested and sliced
  • 1 tsp five-spice powder
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • 20 grinds of black pepper
  • 1-1/2 lb wild salmon fillet, skinned, and cut into 4- to 6-pieces
  • 1-1/2 Tbs Dijon mustard
  • 2 Tbs chopped cilantro, for garnish
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 450°F.
  2. Heat 1 tsp oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat.
  3. Add the turnip noodles, scallions, garlic, and some salt and pepper.
  4. Using tongs, toss the parsnip noodles around in the hot oil for about 5 minutes, or until the noodles start to soften.
  5. In a small bowl, combine the coconut sugar, orange zest, five-spice powder, sea salt, and black pepper.
  6. Spread the noodles in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch glass baking dish.
  7. Sprinkle half of the coconut sugar mixture on top of the noodles, and toss to combine.
  8. Lay the salmon portions on top of the noodles.
  9. Spread the Dijon mustard evenly on top of the salmon pieces.
  10. Sprinkle the remaining sugar mixture evenly over the top of the Dijon mustard.
  11. Bake the dish in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked how you like it (I like mine still juicy and pink in the center).
  12. Remove the dish from the oven, and garnish with cilantro and the orange slices.
  13. Enjoy!

blood orange salmon with parsnip noodles blood orange salmon with turnip noodles