Are you looking for a light and healthy dinner that will really satisfy? Try my salmon quinoa grain bowl – it was packed with flavor and good for you nutrients.

I’ve been wanting to make a grain bowl for a while. I know that this is something my husband and daughter would not love as much as me, so decided to make it on a night when Kylie was out with a friend for dinner and I had promised Dennis I’d make him something different. We were all satisfied tonight, but I think I had the healthiest dinner of the three of us … just a guess (insert smiley, winky face).

You could use any grain you’d like – brown rice, farrow, quinoa, barley – there are so many possibilities. I chose quinoa. I started with white Northern beans and topped that with quinoa, baby spinach, heirloom tomatoes, avocado, orange segments, and canned wild Alaskan salmon. I decided to use canned salmon in my recipe since I was cooking for just me. If I was making this for the family, I would have made fresh salmon. The canned tasted great though, I really liked it. As a “dressing” I used the juice of half a naval orange, the zest of this orange, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, honey, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder and a pinch of kosher salt.

 

I quartered mini heirloom tomatoes (I love these!) and cut up an avocado to add to my bowl. I did not cook my spinach, I wanted it raw for this grain bowl. It added a nice freshness to my dinner.

This meal was really healthy and I felt good eating this for dinner.

 

You can do so much with a grain bowl, there are so many ways you can make it to adjust to your own tastes. I’m hoping to blog many of these in the near future – I look forward to coming up with some good combinations that I’ll be happy to share with you all.

Ingredients (for 1 serving)

• 1/4 cup cooked quinoa

• 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach

• 1/2 cup Northern beans

• 1/2 6-ounce can Wild Alaskan salmon

• 1/2 cup mini heirloom tomatoes

• 1 avocado, sliced

• 1 naval orange (1/2 used for juice, 1/2 segments, zest)

• 1 teaspoon honey

• 1 teaspoon olive oil

• 1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

• pinch of kosher salt

• fresh ground pepper

Directions

Cook quinoa per package instructions. Heat beans. Mix together honey, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Add juice and zest of orange. Whisk and set aside.

Build grain bowl – beans, quinoa, spinach, tomatoes, salmon, orange segments and avocado. Drizzle with dressing and mix together. Enjoy!

Until next time, Kris