It’s always fun to try something new.
I wanted to share a recipe from my upcoming 5-day detox that starts Monday, March 27. It has an ingredient you may not have tried before. And it’s one that helps with digestion and energy. I love this recipe because it is delicious and also super easy to make…one baking sheet and your done.
The new ingredient is umeboshi plum vinegar. This is not something you probably have sitting in your pantry. But, it’s worth getting on your next trip to the store.
What the heck are umeboshi plums? Umeboshi plums are Japanese plums that are (extremely) sour and salty. So sour and salty that they make you pucker up if you had it on it’s own. (I’m not recommending that – unless you like that kind of thing.) No, they are a nice accent and flavor enhancer.
Umeboshi plums and their vinegar have health benefits because of this sour quality. They aid digestion because they activate your salivary glands when you pucker up. Your salivary glands contain an enzyme called amylase, which acts as the body’s first step in breaking down food for digestion.
Your salivary glands also help activate the hunger switch in your body – which then sets off a whole array of other digestive juices that will make your digestion go much more smoothly and use up less energy. That means you have more energy to do other things!
You can splash the vinegar on your vegetables or use it in your salad dressing. I used it in the marinade in this recipe – Salmon with Ginger, Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushroom and OMG, is it good!
This is part of my 5-day Spring Detox. It starts next Monday, March 27.
Early bird pricing ends Wednesday, March 22 so sign up here today!
Salmon with Ginger, Bok Choy and Shiitake Mushroom
Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 1 TB coconut oil or olive oil (but the coconut oil is really amazing!)
- ¼ cup hot water
- 4 tsp. fresh grated ginger
- 1 TB umeboshi plum vinegar or rice wine vinegar
- 1 lb. wild salmon, halibut or cod fillets
- 3-4 medium baby bok choy, divide stem and leaves, coarsely chopped
- 12 shiitake (or cremini) mushrooms, caps wiped and tough ends of stems removed, quartered
- Olive oil
- Sea salt and pepper
- Cooked brown rice or quinoa
Directions:
- Make marinade by combining oil, water, ginger and vinegar. If using coconut oil, you may have to heat it gently until it melts.
- Prepare baking sheet (cookie sheet) with rims with parchment paper or jellyroll.
- Preheat broiler and set rack about 3 inches from broiler.
- Place bok choy leaves on one end of baking sheet. Place fish skin-side down on top of leaves. Spread the bok choy stems and mushrooms evenly across the remaining baking sheet. Pour the marinade evenly over the fish and vegetables. (Make sure there is no parchment paper sticking out – you don’t want it to catch the broiler flames.)
- Broil for 7-10 minutes – the rule of thumb is to cook each inch of fish for 10 minutes, but be sure to keep an eye on your oven as the broiler can quickly burn the top of fish or vegetables. You want bok choy to brown but not burn.
- Serve with rice or quinoa, if desired.