Healthy Midweek Comfort: Salmon in a coconut turmeric sauce

Salmon is nutritionally dense and something of a superfood, but you can substitute it with any juicy thick fish fillets you like; indeed, you could throw in prawns instead (just adjust the cooking time down to about two or three minutes until the prawns are opaque). In this recipe, you are getting lots of good fat. It is really filling and needs nothing more than perhaps a side dish of green vegetables or rice if you would like to make it go further.

Serves 4

Ingredients
½ tbsp rapeseed or coconut oil
1 medium white onion, finely sliced
2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
2 cloves of garlic, finely mashed
1 lemongrass (the bottom 2cm only only), peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 400ml tin chopped tomatoes, drained of most of the juice
1 400ml tin of light coconut milk
150ml water
1 tsp palm sugar
4 medium salmon fillets
1 tbsp chopped fresh coriander to finish, or a few Thai basil leaves, if you can get them; if not, just use the coriander. (Thai basil has a slightly aniseed flavour, so don’t substitute with regular basil.)
juice of ½ lime, to taste

Method
Heat the oil in a wide pan or pot, add the onion and sweat for about two minutes until it softens. Add the ginger, garlic and lemongrass and cook for another five minutes.

Stir in the spices and cook for a minute or two. Add a splash of water if it seems too dry.

Add the tomatoes, coconut milk and water, and stir to combine. Bring to a very gentle boil, then reduce to a low simmer and cook for about ten minutes to develop the flavour. Taste and add the palm sugar as needed. Stir, then add the salmon.

Cook the fish in the sauce over a gentle medium heat – splash the sauce over the fish occasionally. It should take about eight minutes to cook through. Stir in the chopped coriander or basil leaves, the lime juice and serve.

(You could also add in a few handfuls of spinach to the sauce, which would be equally delicious.)

Extracted from Move Train Nourish, The Sustainable Way to a Healthier You by Dominic Munnelly and Gráinne Parker (The Collins Press, €19.99).