Herb and Yogurt Stuffed Salmon

Free of gluten and nuts.
Note: This recipe is not dairy free because it contains yogurt, but some lactose intolerant people such as myself can handle yogurt due to its slim-to-none lactose content, so this recipe still may be for you yet!

Happy Canada day everyone! I would've loved to come up with some fancy Canadian-esque recipe for the occasion, but honestly I couldn't really think of any Canadian food to make today so I ended up making an old favourite: herb and yogurt stuffed salmon. Really when I think of Canadian food all that comes to mind is poutine and maple syrup, which DON'T GET ME WRONG NOW is delicious as any Canadian knows but not exactly fitting for Pumpkin Bits. 

I love oven roasted salmon as it's a healthier alternative to frying or deep frying, and it of course involves less effort on my part. ;)  As a side, I roasted vegetable skewers in the oven with a honey and garlic sauce, and paired the two were absolutely delicious! 

I used all dried herbs for this recipe given all stores are closed today and my last-minute effort at a decent meal with fresh herbs was hijacked, but you can easily substitute any dried ingredients with fresh.

For the rub I used a spice called fish masala paired with tumeric, as honestly I can hardly cook anything anymore without adding a Middle Eastern twist to it... Their spice blends are just so much better! So if you're not feeling daring you can substitute the fish masala and tumeric with a more local fish spice blend. Fish masala can be obtained at any foreign food store (sometimes the Indian versions are way too spicy for me so I prefer to stick with the Arabs on this one) or you can click on one of the text links above to buy one off Amazon, or use one of my substitutes listed in the recipe below. 

Yield: 3-4 Salmon Fillets

Rub:

A few sprinkles of fish masala * You can substitute this with a) a local fish spice blend if you're not feeling the foreign spices today,  or b) sprinkle on a tiny bit of garam masala, an even tinier bit of cumin and some curry.

A few sprinkles of tumeric

Juice of one lemon

Stuffing:

1 cup yogurt

1½ tablespoons minced garlic

½ teaspoon dried oregano

1 teaspoon zaatar (it's a blend of thyme with toasted sesame seeds, so just thyme is a decent substitute)

½ teaspoon of basil

Preheat your oven to 450°F/230°C/Gas Mark 8.

Rub the salmon with your chosen spice mixture from the ingredients above. You can juice the salmon now, but I prefer to squeeze the lemon juice on at the very end.

Mix stuffing ingredients together in a bowl. 

Hold the salmon so that its width is facing up, and carefully cut an incision along the width as far down as you can get the knife without piercing the other side. 

Fill the incision with the stuffing and repeat for all fillets. If you can't seem to get your knife to make an incision without flaking the salmon or repeatedly tearing it from the top or bottom, your salmon sadly probably isn't thick enough and you need to work on your salmon selection skills.

Grease a pan and place the salmon carefully in the pan, careful not to squeeze out the stuffing. Squeeze a lemon over the fillets and finally sprinkle some salt and pepper to your taste. 

Roast in the oven for 20 minutes, or if you like your salmon well done leave it longer.

Enjoy!

Post by McKayla