Brown Sugar and Ginger Salmon with Tahini Fried “Rice”
Brown Sugar and Ginger Salmon with Tahini Fried 'Rice'
This recipe is pretty much an ode to Trader Joes, which saves our dinners on more occasions than I can frankly count. An easy sheet pan salmon, roasted asparagus and fried 'rice' is the answer to your next weeknight dinner crunch!
Ingredients
- 4 6 oz salmon fillets
- Salt and Pepper for seasoning
- 2 TBSP Trader Joe's Ginger Paste
- 2 TBSP Brown Sugar
- 2 TBSP olive oil, divided
- 1 lb asparagus, trimmed
- 1 bag of Trader Joe's riced vegetable medley (or substitute any riced vegetable)
- 1 TBSP olive oil
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 1 tsp garlic salt
Directions
- Step 1 Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Toss the asparagus with 1 TBSP olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay spears across a wide baking sheet.
- Step 2 Season your salmon fillets generously with salt and pepper. In a small dish, stir together the ginger paste, brown sugar and remaining tablespoon of olive oil until a paste forms. Brush the tops of the fillets with the paste. Rest the fillets across the bed of asparagus and roast for 15-18 minutes, or until cooked through and desired doneness is achieved.
- Step 3 For the fried ‘rice’, heat 1 TBSP of olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the riced veggies and saute for 5-7 minutes until soft and golden. Turn off heat and stir in tahini paste until fully incorporated. Season with garlic salt. Serve alongside the roasted salmon and asparagus.
If I could count the number of times Trader Joe’s has saved me in a dinner crunch… it would blow your mind! TJ’s is a bit of a hike for us, but I would even go HOURS out of my way for it, no questions asked it. In my opinion, they have the hands down best selection of pre-made food of any grocery store chain (which saves me in a pinch), but they also have an amazing assortment of what I call meal “builders.” As someone who really and truly attempts to meal plan, these are my saving grace. I’m talking about the vegetable gnocchis, the variety of veggie pizza crusts, or things like tonight’s riced vegetable medley – they’re not standalone meals in their own right, but these items are enough to get me started and inspired to get a truly decent dinner on the table.
I’ve been really struggling lately to cook during the week. I work a full day, I run home to the kids and they’re immediately starving the second I walk in the door. Any intention I have of cooking some elaborate dinner on a week night (like the good old days), is out the window. Especially now that my 2 year old is on the “white diet,” (ie. pancakes, chicken nuggets and pasta – on rotation), cooking two or three dinners is definitely NOT happening in my household. So I’m starting to go back to the basics and truly rethink meal planning for a family in a way I’ve never had to before. It’s slow going, but tonight is a sneakpeak into the kind of recipes I’ve been working on. I really want to take the blog in that direction because I think meal planning is such an essential tool for mamas (both working mom and SAHMs alike) to keep their heads above water. Meal planning should and can be simpler!
Literally every ingredient in this recipe is from Trader Joes, right down to the salt I used to season the salmon. Unintentional but clearly very convenient – TJ’s is one stop shopping! This recipe is about as simple as you can get for a weeknight but so much better than just the same old same old. This wasn’t even a recipe I was going to showcase on the blog (I’m pretty picky about what makes the cut), but I’ve gotten a lot of requests for it so I made a point today to sit down and write it up. Especially since it ended up being a huge hit. My selective 2 year old actually branched out tonight and asked for some salmon, without me offering it. So a true family win-win across the board!
