Roasted Beet & Salmon Salad with Pink Grapefruit & Avocado

Who doesn't like a piece of nicely cooked salmon on a bed of fresh leaves, accompanied by some fragrant roasted root vegetables and slices of creamy avocado? It has got the fatty juicy meat, a beautiful color and a ton of healthy omega-3!

The fresh salmon was on sale at our local grocery store last week, together with some beautiful blend of organic greens and some ultra fresh ruby grapefruit. Combining those with the potatoes and golden/red beets from farmer's market and some home made mozzarella, I made a pretty tasty salad for Thursday pre-game dinner. It was so good that D did not even ask for salad dressing, for the first time!

To roast beets and potatoes, toss them with some olive oil and salt, and wrap in a piece of aluminium foil. Set oven temperature to 425F, roast for 40 minutes. They should be fragrant and ready to peel once out of the oven. After peeling the beets and potatoes, set them aside (optional: season with salt and pepper).

The shining ingredient of the salad here was salmon.The fillet was nice and fresh. I asked for about a pound.

I like to cook it with the skin, though afterwards, it's up to the diner whether to eat the skin or not. I'd eat it for the taste, and the omega 3, but not for the mercury contamination. 

Pat the fish fillets dry. Season both sides with some salt, pepper, and a dash of lemon juice. 

Roast them in the oven at 375F for about 15 minutes, skin side down. Once the salmon is cooked, you are ready to assemble the salad! I got lazy with mine (assembled D's first) and did not even bother to slice the beets and potato, or avocado -- I did remember to serve with wine though!

Roasted Beet & Salmon Salad with Pink Grapefruit & Avocado

makes 2 servings

• 2 salmon fillets, 4oz each
• 4 small beets 
• 4 small potatoes
• 4 cups of salad greens
• 1 avocado
• 1 grapefruit (Ruby Red)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• juice from one lemon
• salt, pepper
• your favorite salad dressing, balsamic vinaigrette pairs great 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Wash and scrub the beets & potatoes. Toss with olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper. Wrap in a piece of aluminium foil, and roast until cooked, for about 45 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees with done.
2. Make sure the salmon fillets are clean and dry. If not, rinse under water and pat dry. In a shallow bowl, season both sides of the fillet with salt, pepper and the lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice works the best but the bottled ones work just fine.
3. Place the salmon fillets in a baking dish, skin side down. Roast in the oven for 12-18 minutes.
4. While roasting the salmon, peel of the beet skins, and slice the beets. Quarter or slice the potatoes and the avocado. Peel the grapefruit and take out the meat. Get the salad greens ready.
5. On each plate, top 2 cups of salad greens with the beets, potatoes, avocado and grapefruit slices, arrange it as you like. Place one roasted salmon fillet on top. Drizzle with your dressing of choice. 

Tips: 

• The choice of salad greens are totally up to you. I found baby arugula pairing very well with salmon and have always make sure it .is in the mix.
• Skip step 4 if you would like. I enjoy cutting my food while eating, and I think it tastes better! 

Nutrition 

The salad was pretty rich in good fat, thanks to both the salmon and avocado. Needless to say it was also full of leafy greens. The addition of beets and potato not only added starch but a bunch of healthy vitamins. Each plate was about 550 calories.  Of course having salmon every day would not be affordable for us, but for both health and monetary reasons, once a week seems like a great arrangement. 

Cost

The whole meal cost about $ 12 for the two of us. We had enough leftover for both our lunch the next day!