Most people notice the difference right away when they join a CSA, fresh vegetables picked at the height of freshness beat out their grocery store counterparts any day. One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed is the huge bundles of herbs our shares often contain! You can make the most of these herbs by freezing them in water or oil to use later, or my favorite way, make them into a freezer friendly pesto. This dill pesto is diary free and kind of a cross between gremolata and pesto. It’s perfect for rice, fish, salads, beets, and anything you can think of. If salmon’s not your thing make this flavorful rice alongside our Lemon Tempeh or slather some on some grilled chicken.
You can really make this healthy meal very quickly. Just set the rice on to cook, pop the salmon in the oven, and make the pesto. When the rice is ready and the salmon is almost ready mix some of the pesto in to the rice and spread it over the salmon. Broil the top of the salmon and get ready to serve. I think a great pairing to this meal would be roasted beets – and surely our CSA members have extra beets laying around!
I used pine nuts here which are really flavorful and delicious. If you can’t eat nuts or don’t want to spend the extra money on them, just use raw sunflower seeds. I picked these up in the bulk section of Greenstar (where we also picked up frozen, wild-caught salmon) and they were a fairly reasonable price!
Dill Pesto Pilaf & Salmon
1 cup long grain white rice
8 oz wild-caught Salmon
2 cups chopped dill
1 lemon
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup pine nuts
1/3 cup olive oil
salt
Preheat the oven to 400°F
Cook the rice according to package directions.
Prep the salmon: Drizzle olive oil over the salmon and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 8 minutes until the fish is just starting to flake, but not quite finished. The fish will finish cooking when you broil the pesto on top. Set aside.
Make the pesto. Place the garlic in a food processor and process briefly to mince the garlic. Add the pine nuts and pulse a few times to break them up. Add the dill and juice from half a lemon. Process on high and stream the olive oil in while processing. Season with salt. Mixture will be a little chunky which is fine.
Finish the rice: Mix a few tablespoons and a splash of olive oil into the rice. Taste and add more pesto if you like. Season with lemon juice.
Finish the salmon: Spread a few tablespoons of the pesto over the salmon. Broil on high for one minute. Let rest a few minutes before serving.
Store leftover pesto in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer.
* This recipes makes lots of pesto so increase the amount of rice or salmon based on the number of people you are serving.
