Are you a busy mom who doesn’t like to spend tons of time in the kitchen each night cooking dinner? I’m right there with you! This lemon broiled salmon with blanched asparagus and cauliflower rice is a quick and easy weeknight meal we make frequently at our house. It takes no more than 30 minutes to make – 15 minutes of hands-on prep, and about 10 minutes of total cooking time.
I love meals, like this one, that don’t take a lot of hands-on time. I can get everything prepped, put it on the stove or in the oven to cook, and make lunches for school the next day while the food cooks. This is a perfect busy mom (and dad) go-to!
Not only is this meal quick and easy to make, but it is also healthy and yummy. This lemon broiled salmon is Paleo, as it is just meat, veggies, and healthy fat, and it is a low-carb meal you can make if you are Keto. But whether you eat Paleo, Keto, or just try to eat generally healthy, this is a great meal for you. No matter what “diet” or way of eating you go by, I’m sure we can all agree that we should eat more vegetables and less processed food. We should eat real food, as minimally-processed as we can get. Read my post, What Is the Paleo Diet?, to learn more about this healthy, real food way of eating that I (somewhat) follow.
Salmon, asparagus, and rice (whether cauliflower rice like in this recipe or white rice) go perfectly together. When I cook asparagus in the oven, my boys have a very hard time eating it. I love broiled asparagus with a little bit of char on it, but I don’t think they like the texture of it. But, when we blanch the asparagus, as I’ll explain below, the kids love it! They both eat up all their asparagus right away and ask for more. Read on to find out how to make lemon broiled salmon and this kid-friendly asparagus!
Here’s How to Make Lemon Broiled Salmon, Asparagus, Cauli Rice, and Garlic Aioli:
Gather the Ingredients
First, you’ll need to get everything together and start prepping everything. For this meal you’ll need:
- 1 lb. wild-caught salmon
- Avocado oil
- Everything but the Bagel Seasoning
- Black pepper
- Sea salt
- 2 lemons
- 1 head cauliflower
- Butter or ghee
- 1 bunch asparagus
- Olive oil
- Balsamic vinegar
- Avocado mayo
- Garlic powder
- Dried dill
Prep the Salmon
Drizzle about 1 Tablespoon of avocado oil onto a baking dish.
Then pat the salmon dry with a paper towel and it to the baking dish. Rub both sides to coat it with the oil. One pound of salmon feeds my family of four perfectly, but of course adjust the amount of salmon you cook based on how much you need for your family.
Sprinkle 1½ teaspoons Everything but the Bagel Seasoning, ⅛ teaspoon black pepper, and the zest of 1 lemon onto the salmon evenly. Slice half of the lemon, and lay the slices on top of the salmon.
Set the oven to the High broil setting, and set the salmon aside while the oven heats and you prep the rest of the meal.
Prep the Cauli Rice
Cut a head of cauliflower into chunks and put the chunks into a blender or food processor.
Pulse the cauliflower until it becomes the size of rice. You may need to stop every once in a while to shake it or stir it up to make sure all the chunks get riced.
Then transfer the riced cauliflower to a medium-sized pot with 1 Tablespoon ghee or butter, ½ teaspoon sea salt, and the juice of the other half of the lemon you used for the salmon.
Set the cauliflower rice aside while you prep the asparagus.
Prep the Asparagus
Cut about 1 inch off the bottom ends of the asparagus stalks. Nobody likes those hard-to-chew ends!
Fill a large pot with water and set on the stove. Also, fill a large bowl with ice and water. This will be an ice bath for the asparagus when it’s done cooking.
Now that everything is prepped, it’s time to cook it all!
Blanch the Asparagus
Turn the burner with the water for the asparagus on High. Let it come to a rolling boil. While you are waiting on the water to boil, start the salmon and cauli rice. The asparagus does not take long at all to cook!
Once the water is boiling, add the asparagus. It only takes 1-2 minutes to cook. When you are able to smell the asparagus, it’s done!
Take the asparagus out of the pot and add to the ice water you prepared. This stops the cooking process and helps the asparagus maintain its crunchiness, instead of getting mushy (that’s what the kiddos DO NOT like). It also helps maintain most of the nutrients in the asparagus.
The amount of time the asparagus is in the ice bath is not super important. A few minutes will do. You can set the table and wait for the salmon and cauli rice to finish while the asparagus sits in the ice water.
Then drain the water and ice out of the bowl, drizzle 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil and 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar to the asparagus, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste, and toss to coat it all.
Broil the Salmon
Once the oven is hot, put the salmon under the broiler. Let it cook for 7-10 minutes. Keep an eye on it. Take it out when it starts to get browned on top. An extra few minutes will burn the top and will dry the salmon out. I prefer salmon to be more on the rare side than overly done. 7-8 minutes is perfect! Overcooked salmon is not very tasty!
When it’s done, take it out of the oven and drizzle a teaspoon or two of olive oil over the salmon.
Cook the Cauli Rice
Place the pot with the cauli-rice in it on the stove, and turn the burner on to Medium. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until it is warm and tender, stirring every minute or so.
Make the Garlic Aioli
While the other food is cooking, you can make the yummy garlic aioli. This aioli is sorta like a tartar sauce. It goes perfectly with the salmon. You can drizzle it over your fish (and cauli rice and asparagus too) when it’s done to add a little more flavor and creaminess.
To make the aioli, mix together 2 Tablespoons Primal Kitchen Avocado Mayo, ½ lemon juiced, ¼ teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon dried dill, and a dash of black pepper. You can find this healthier avocado mayo as well as many other healthy products for discounted prices at ThriveMarket.com.
Plate Your Lemon Broiled Salmon Meal
Once everything is done cooking, set the amount of salmon, cauli rice, and asparagus that you want on your plate. Drizzle a little aioli on top and squeeze a little lemon juice on your food if you wish.
Enjoy the fresh, crispy yumminess! Let me know if you try this meal and what you think – and what your kids think! What vegetables are your kids’ favorites?
Lemon Broiled Asparagus
Ingredients
Salmon
- 1 Tbsp avocado oil
- 1 Lb salmon
- 1 ½ tsp Everything but the Bagel Seasoning
- ⅛ tsp black pepper
- 1 lemon zested and sliced
- 1-2 tsp olive oil
Cauli Rice
- 1 head cauliflower
- 1 Tbsp ghee
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ lemon juiced
Asparagus
- 1 bunch asparagus
- water
- ice
- 1-2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
- salt to taste
- pepper to taste
Lemon Aioli
- 2 Tbsp avocado oil mayo
- ½ lemon juiced
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp dried dill
- dash black pepper
Instructions
Salmon
- Drizzle 1 Tablespoon of the avocado oil in a 9x13" baking dish.
- Pat the salmon dry and add it to the pan.
- Sprinkle with the Everything but the Bagel seasoning, black pepper, and lemon zest. Slice half the lemon into, and lay the slices on top of the salmon.
- Turn the oven on to the High broiler setting.
- Put the salmon under the broiler and cook for 7-10 minutes, or until it starts to get browned on top.
- Take the salmon out of the oven and drizzle 1-2 teaspoons olive oil onto the salmon.
Cauli Rice
- Cut the head of cauliflower into chunks.
- Put the chunks of cauliflower into a blender or food processor and pulse until it becomes the size of rice. Shake the blender up and/or stir if needed.
- Spoon the blended cauliflower into a medium-sized pot, along with the ghee, salt, and lemon juice.
- Turn the burner on Medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the cauliflower rice is warm and tender.
Asparagus
- Cut 1" off the bottom of the asparagus stalks.
- Fill a large pot with water and place on the stove.
- Turn the burner to High and allow the water to come to a rolling boil.
- Fill a large bowl with cold water and ice.
- Once the water is boiling, add the asparagus to it.
- Let the asparagus boil for 1-2 minutes, or until you can start to smell the asparagus scent.
- Take the asparagus out of the pot and put in the ice bath.
- Drain the ice and water from the bowl.
- Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the asparagus. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
Lemon Aioli
- Mix together the mayo, lemon juice, garlic powder, dill, and pepper.
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