Healthy kebab or kabob

Salmon. Bell Peppers. Broccoli. Aren't they all antioxidant rich food(ARF) ? Whether it's Vitamin E, Vitamin C, beta-carotene, flavonoid, they ARE AR (antioxidant rich). Just look at the bright colors, you will know.

Of course, salmon is also high in the omega-3 fatty acids. However, the varieties of salmon just confuse me sometimes. Pink salmon, sockeye salmon; Pacific, Atlantic, Alaskan; caught-wild, farm-fresh. The general preference is to purchase wild-caught salmon, and not farm-raised salmon, if you have a choice.

Reason? Farm-raised flesh are supposed to be greyish. They have no naturally occurring carotenoids, as in wild salmon, to make them look pink. Farmed salmon get their color from formulated feed, which usually contains chemicals. Farmers can even decide the color of the salmon based on the salmon fan. I suppose, if you are buying salmon which are labeled "farm-raised", the lighter the color, the better?

The sockeye salmon I bought was wild-caught and thus I was less worried about the bright orange flesh. In fact, finding out more about sockeye made me realize that this breed of salmon is supposed to have a day-glow natural orange flesh. This salmon is considered full-flavored and is considered by some - the top eating salmon in the world.

Sockeye salmon kebab or kabob, with sauted long beans and carrots (serves 2)
Ingredients: (Note: no quantity provided - just base it on what you see from the picture about portions and proportions)
- medium-sized salmon fillets, dab dry with paper towel, season with salt and pepper, cut into chunks, some blanched broccoli, some bell peppers, pineapples (option) ; (for skewer)
- long beans, carrots, some ginger and garlic, pinches of herbs (for saute)

Method:
1. Skewer the salmon, broccoli, bell peppers, drizzle some olive oil on the kebab
2. Bake in oven at 395F for about 8-10 mins (Note: Eyeball the baking process to check for white "beads"* appearing on the salmon. Once the white beads* forms, the salmon is cooked. Do adjust the baking time accordingly, depending how thick your salmon fillets or fillet chunks are)
3. Meantime, heat up some oil in a saute pan, fry some crushed ginger and garlic at low heat, then add in the long beans and carrots. Fry lightly for about 5mins, till long beans and carrots are cooked till tender. Add in dried oregano, and mix well
4. Lay them on a plate


5. By this time, the fish kebab is already cooked. Remove from oven, place on bed of vegetables, and eat immediately while warm


This is my antioxidant-rich serving to Sweetnicks ARF/5-a-day.

Other posts:
Fish curry
Grilled fish in banana leaves - otak otak
Pan fried garlic shrimps
Pan fried fish with homemade pesto
Grilled chicken in skewers -satay

Having white "beads" on a baked salmon is normal - but usually only happens when salmon is fully cooked through (errr....over cooked?). It's completely edible. These "beads" that foams up is albumin protein (the same stuff found in egg whites), not fats!

Note: This also has to do with whether the fish was cold from the fridge or was at room temperature before cooking is done. Typically, the colder the salmon to begin with, the more white stuff or "beads" appear.


Tag: fish, sockeye salmon, salmon, seafood