I absolutely love salmon and steamed vegetables. It is usually a meal we have mid-week as it is so quick to put together. For this recipe, I went out of my way to make sure the dish was particularly good for our teeth, as I have been concerned about Jumpy’s dental health.
A couple of months ago, I realised that my little girl’s teeth were a dull, discoloured shade rather than the shiny pearly whites she should have as a healthy toddler. I started wondering whether it had something to do with her exclusion diet, but nobody wants to commit to an answer. Our dentist referred me to the dietician, who said a GP would be better qualified to answer that question. The doctor I saw a week later (our GP was on annual leave) told me to ask the paediatrician when I see him next month. That was helpful!
I found all that rather annoying and started doing my own research. I read a lot of about what to eat and what to watch in order to maintain good teeth. It turns out that discoloured teeth are not necessarily a sign of an underlying issue, but I still decided to go ahead and develop a recipe that would help maintain good oral health. In short, you should avoid alcohol, sweets, sports drinks, refined carbs, food dyes, berries and beetroot.
I chose to focus on ingredients that would be good for my little girl’s teeth: salmon (source of vitamin D, which helps your body absorb calcium), carrots for the vitamin A, ginger for its anti-inflammatory properties, cabbage (vitamin A and C). Last but not least, water washes away food debris and green tea helps fight against cavities.
I came up with the following recipe: salmon topped with ginger butter on a bed of roasted cabbage served with steamed carrots, broccoli and baby sweetcorn. Our drink of choice that evening was of course water! In the evening, we had green tea as well.
I made quite a lot of the ginger butter so I froze most of it for another day.
I love steamed vegetables. I always use my two-layer steamer on the gas stove. Carrots need to be nearest to the heat, then baby sweetcorn, then tender stem broccoli.
The roasted cabbage adds a nice dimension to this dish, with its crunch and nice garlicky flavours.
Salmon with Lime and Ginger Butter on a bed of Roasted Cabbage served with Steamed Vegetables
Ingredients
For the Ginger and Lime Butter
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh root ginger
- A handful of fresh coriander
- 1 lime
- ½ cup butter 115g
- ½ teaspoon Espelette chilli powder or Cayenne pepper
- Salt and black pepper to taste
For the Salmon and Vegetables
- 4 salmon fillets
- 1 small red cabbage
- 1 red onion chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 4 carrots
- Tender stem broccoli
- Baby sweetcorn
- 1 lime
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to gas mark 8 (230 degrees Celsius, 450 degrees Fahrenheit).
- If possible, make the fish butter ahead and freeze it. It will be one less thing to worry about as you are getting dinner ready.
- Put the ginger and coriander in a food processor. Wash the lime thoroughly and grate its zest. Add to the mixing bowl with the squeezed lime juice, butter, salt, pepper and Espelette chilli powder or Cayenne pepper. Blend. Drop the mixture on a sheet of greaseproof paper and roll into a sausage, twisting the ends. Chill in the freezer.
- Rinse the cabbage and remove the outer leaves. Cut the cabbage in half from top to bottom, and halve again so you have four quarters. Remove the core from each wedge. Shred the cabbage by slicing each quarter into strips.
- Spread the shredded cabbage on a large baking tray. Sprinkle the chopped red onion on top, minced garlic and salt. Add the olive oil and stir before putting the tray in the oven.
- In the meantime, loosely wrap each salmon fillet in foil.
- After 15 minutes, stir the cabbage and make space on the tray for the salmon. Lower the oven to gas mark 5 (190 degrees Celsius, 375 degrees Fahrenheit). The salmon and cabbage will need approximately 20 minutes. Stir the cabbage a couple of times.
- Steam the vegetables for about 10 minutes, with the carrots closest to the heat, then the baby sweetcorn, and the broccoli on top.
- The salmon is ready when its flesh flakes easily and has a light pink colour all over.
- Take the flavoured butter out of the freezer and cut four rounds. Cut the lime into wedges.
- Warm your plates. On each plate, lay a bed of roasted cabbage, add the fish and butter on top and arrange the steamed vegetables around the salmon. Serve with lime wedges.
Recipe Notes
For a dairy-free version, replace the butter with dairy-free spread.
The ginger and lime butter will keep in the freezer for a few months.
That looks delicious!
Thanks Alex!
Ton plat est parfait pour l’automne, plein des vitamines ! La couleur en plus est bon pour le moral 😉
Merci Eva. J’aime beaucoup les plats colorés.
Looks and sounds absolutely amazing hon! Coincidentally my 5yo’s teeth are dull unlike her sisters pearly whites. Really hopingher adult teeth come through a nicer shade xx
Now that is odd. Coincidence or effect of our little girls’ exclusion diets? I remember reading not so long ago on Vicki’s blog (the Free From Fairy) that Coeliacs were more likely than the rest of the population to get ‘bad’ teeth. Could that be linked to the lack of essential nutrients when the teeth are formed? In that case, young children on restricted diets would be affected.
Really interesting hon, but sad too, as if they haven’t suffered enough 🙁 I wonder if it’s more to do with the intolerances/allergies being responsible for vitamin and mineral deficiencies which are hard to replace. I’ll have to investigate…
You have a point, I will ask her allergy specialist. We are seeing him in 3 weeks. x
This looks delicious Mel and a healthy recipe for us all, so interesting about teeth too, hope there’s no underlying cause either, thanks for sharing this, we are huge fans of salmon and steamed veg and stir fries here too x
Thanks my lovely. If I do not get a clear answer from Jumpy’s paediatrician at the end of the month, I will definitely start looking into it myself.
Oh that sounds delicious – must give this a try next time we have salmon 🙂
Thanks Louise. I love having a selection of flavoured butters in my freezer; they can turn a bland dish into something really delicious!
What a delicious meal and mouthwatering photos! I am glad that I am not the only one who does loads of research about food!! I don’t want to worry you but there is a link between coeliac disease and tooth enamel problems. I wrote about it on my blog. I won’t put the link but you will find it if you search on my blog to that affect. See you on Saturday!!!
I did read your post again after my exchanges with Renée. I have written a list of questions to ask Jumpy’s paediatrician as I am quite worried about her teeth to be honest.