Bone-Boosting Salmon & Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Bowls

Written By Risa Potters, DC

This recipe features ingredients rich in Calcium, Vitamin D, Magnesium, and Vitamin K. It's a delicious way to support skeletal health, enhanced by the fresh taste of dill

Here’s what you’re looking forward to!

Ingredients

2 Salmon fillets (about 4-6 oz each)

  • 1 cup Quinoa, rinsed

  • 2 cups Low-sodium vegetable or chicken broth (or water)

  • 2 cups Broccoli florets

  • 1 large Red bell pepper, cut into chunks

  • 1 medium Japanese Sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes

  • 2 tbsp Olive oil

  • 2 tbsp chopped Fresh dill (divided)

  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

  • 1 or 2 Collard Leaves chopped and added to the roasting pan for the last 5-7 minutes, or served fresh under the bowl.

For the Lemon Dill Dressing

  • 2 tbsp Olive oil

  • 1 tbsp Fresh lemon juice

  • 1 tbsp chopped Fresh dill

  • Pinch of salt and pepper

Your raw ingredients minus the fish

Instructions

Preheat Oven: Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).

  • Cook Quinoa: While the oven heats, combine the rinsed quinoa and broth (or water) in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is cooked and fluffy. Remove from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.

  • Prepare Vegetables: On a large baking sheet, toss the broccoli florets, red bell pepper chunks, and Japanese sweet potato cubes with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, 1 tablespoon of the fresh dill, salt, and pepper. Spread in a single layer.

  • Roast Vegetables: Place the baking sheet in the preheated oven and roast for 15 minutes.

  • Add Salmon: After 15 minutes, push the vegetables to one side of the baking sheet and add the salmon fillets to the other side. Season the salmon with a little salt and pepper and sprinkle the remaining 1 tablespoon of fresh dill over the salmon.

  • Continue Roasting: Return the baking sheet to the oven and continue roasting for another 10-15 minutes, or until the salmon is cooked through and flakes easily with a fork, and the vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized. (If adding collard greens, scatter them over the vegetables during the last 7-10 minutes of roasting).  

  • Make Dressing: While the salmon and vegetables finish roasting, whisk together the dressing ingredients (olive oil, lemon juice, fresh dill, salt, and pepper) in a small bowl.

  • Assemble Bowls: If you did not add the collards to the roasting pan, you can add whole leaves into each bowl, then divide the cooked quinoa between two bowls. Top with the roasted vegetables and salmon fillet. Drizzle with the lemon-dill dressing.

  • Serve: Enjoy your delicious and bone-nourishing meal

Why This Recipe?

Salmon: An excellent source of protein, needed to increase muscle mass and Vitamin D, a hormone needed for the absorption of Calcium.  Make sure that you bake the Salmon with the skin and, if possible eat the skin where the important anti-inflammatory Omega 3 fats live.

  • Quinoa: Provides valuable minerals like magnesium and phosphorus, which are key components of bone structure.  Quinoa is one of the few non-protein foods with all nine essential amino acids, making it an important food to build protein on a Vegan diet.

  • Broccoli & Bell Peppers: Offer Vitamin C, important for collagen production in bones. Broccoli also offers a key Sulphur compound called, Sulfurophane, which in its sprouted form can prevent breast cancer.

  • Japanese Sweet Potato: A delicious source of complex carbohydrates and fiber, these amazing foods contain polyphenols, typically found in deeply colored vegetables, like herbs, spices, tea and dark chocolate.  When you see any purple, red or blue vegetables and fruit, you are in the right place. I am drawn to the beauty of purple sweet potatoes, as well as red cherries, coffee beans and Cacau.  The women of Osaka japan, the oldest women in the world who live in one of the Blue Zones, plant purple sweet potatoes in their gardens so that seventy percent of what they eat are these wonderful sweet potatoes.  Just think “color”, like purple, when choosing your vegetables.

  • Collard Greens: These hearty greens are a fantastic source of Vitamin K, vital for bone metabolism and directing calcium to the bones, and also contribute a good amount of calcium.

Risa Potters, DC