Asian Salmon Bowl {I'm Back!}

Hi guys! I'm back with a recipe that may just be the thing to bring me out of my blogging funk. 

I picked up a fresh piece of salmon for this recipe at Publix last night and ohmygoodness why did I ever buy frozen?? I bought a fresh piece, slightly under a pound, for $8.99/lb, which was the perfect amount for the two of us. In the freezer case, Publix sold a bag of individually packed (usually either 2 or 3 pieces) for around $12. For some reason I always thought that buying frozen was less expensive than buying fresh, but I was wrong! 

I've never been a huge salmon lover and I've only ever baked it before. Searing it definitely gave it a different taste and I loved the crispiness of it! 

I did omit and edit a few of the ingredients in this recipe, some on purpose, some mistakenly, which I will point out below. 

Photo was pre-sauce pour. :)

Asian Salmon Bowls

Recipe from skinnytaste

For The Salmon Bowl:

1/2 cup green onions, thinly sliced

1 English cucumber, sliced

1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

1 4-ounce avocado, diced

2 cups cooked brown rice

3/4 cup sprouts such as daikon radish

1 strip nori, shredded

16 ounces wild salmon, cut in 4 pieces

olive oil spray 

salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

For the Soy-Wasabi Vinaigrette:

2 tbsp less sodium soy sauce (or GF Tamari)

2 tsp wasabi in tube

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

1 tbsp sesame oil

Directions:

Combine the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl and set aside. Heat rice and keep warm.

Season salmon with a pinch of salt and fresh pepper. Heat a frying pan or sauté pan over medium-high heat. Spray the pan lightly with oil spray. When hot, sear salmon, around 2 - 4 minutes per side (depending on the thickness of the fish).

Split rice into four bowls equally, 1/2 cup each. Top each bowl with 1 oz avocado, green onions, cucumbers, sesame seeds, and sprouts. Place salmon on top of each bowl, drizzle with the vinaigrette, and sprinkle with shredded nori.

After I took the photo I realized that I forgot to add the toasted sesame seeds. Not a game changer, but I definitely want to add them next time!

I also omitted the radish and nori, simply because I just didn't feel like trying to find them at the store to be honest. Instead, I added a little bit of mixed greens to the bottom of the bowl to give it some crunch. 

For the vinaigrette I substituted the mirin for 2 tablespoons of sherry and 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. There are also other substitutions for mirin you can find by doing a quick Google search!

Also, for those that want to cut down on your cooking time, I highly suggest Uncle Ben's boil in a bag brown rice!