Prime Time for Seafood

Springtime’s warmer weather stirs cravings for light and flavorful meals, making fish a perfect choice for the season. There’s no better time to shake up the dinnertime routine by making one of these healthy seafood recipes for dinner tonight.

Oven-Roasted Salmon with Cauliflower and Mushrooms is elegant enough to serve on a special occasion. Salmon’s richness makes it a good match for the earthy flavors of cauliflower and mushrooms. A drizzle of the currant-red wine vinaigrette adds a little something extra and brings all the ingredients together. Overcooking is the most common mistake with fish. Cook salmon until it is still rosy in the center, then let it rest uncovered for 3 minutes.

Some people associate the word curry with the spice blend, but curry is simply a dish with a sauce or gravy seasoned with spices. Quick Curry Noodle Soup incorporates plump shrimp and tender snapper fillets in a rich coconut broth infused with fresh Thai spices and herbs. Kaffir lime leaves are entirely optional but add a distinctive lime-like aroma and flavor to the soup that’s difficult replicate. You can find them in specialty shops. If you manage to get your hands on some, buy extra and store what you don’t use in the freezer. In a hurry? Since this aromatic soup comes together in about 30 minutes, it makes for an easy and flavor-packed weeknight meal.

Oven-Roasted Salmon with Cauliflower and Mushrooms

(Makes 4 servings)

Currant–Red Wine Vinaigrette:

1/2 cup dry red wine

1/4 cup dried currants

3    tablespoons finely chopped shallots

3    tablespoons red wine vinegar

2    tablespoons light brown sugar

2    teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

Cauliflower and Mushrooms:

1    head cauliflower, cored and cut into small florets

3    tablespoons olive oil

1 1/4    pounds assorted mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, and stemmed shiitakes, large mushrooms halved lengthwise

1/4 cup very finely chopped shallots

2    garlic cloves, finely chopped

3    tablespoons thinly sliced fresh sage leaves

Salmon:

4    salmon fillets (5-ounce) with skin

1    teaspoon olive oil

1/4 cup hulled pumpkin seeds, toasted (optional)

To make vinaigrette: In small heavy saucepan, bring wine, currants, shallots, vinegar, and brown sugar to simmer over medium heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer gently until currants are plump and liquid is reduced to ¼ cup, about 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat and whisk in olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer to small bowl.

To prepare cauliflower and mushrooms: Preheat oven to 450°F. In large bowl, toss cauliflower with 2 tablespoons of oil to coat. Season to taste with salt. Spread on large, rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes, or until cauliflower is tender and lightly browned. Remove from oven. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F.

Meanwhile, heat large heavy nonstick skillet over high heat. Add remaining tablespoon oil, then add mushrooms and cook, without stirring, for about 4 minutes, or until golden on bottom. Stir mushrooms and cook for about 4 minutes more, or until tender and well browned.

Stir roasted cauliflower, shallots, and garlic into mushrooms and cook until shallots soften, about 1 minute. Stir in sage. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Return cauliflower mixture to baking sheet and cover to keep warm. Wipe out skillet.

To cook salmon: Using sharp knife, score skin side of salmon. Season with salt and pepper. Heat same skillet over medium-high heat. Add olive oil, then place salmon skin-side down in skillet and cook for about 5 minutes, or until skin is golden brown. Turn salmon over, transfer skillet to oven, and roast for 3 to 5 minutes, or until salmon is mostly opaque with rosy center when flaked in thickest part with tip of small knife. Meanwhile, if necessary, uncover cauliflower mixture and rewarm in oven.

To serve: Transfer salmon to platter or four dinner plates. Spoon cauliflower mixture around salmon and drizzle with vinaigrette. Sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, if using. Serve remaining vinaigrette on side.

Per serving:
Calories: 499
Total Fat: 27 g
Saturated Fat: 4 g
Sodium: 134 mg
Carbohydrate: 25 g
Fiber: 5 g
Protein: 35 g
Diabetic Exchanges: 4 lean meat, 2 vegetable, 4 fat

Quick Curry Noodle Soup

(Makes 4 servings — about 8 cups)

1    shallot, coarsely chopped

2    Fresno chiles, seeded if desired (to lessen heat) and coarsely chopped

3    garlic cloves, coarsely chopped

1    lemongrass stalk, coarsely chopped

1    tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger

10  fresh cilantro sprigs, leaves removed from stems, stems and leaves reserved

2    tablespoons canola oil

2    cups unsweetened coconut milk

2    cups water

1    pound peeled and deveined large shrimp (16–20),
halved through back lengthwise

1    pound skinless snapper fillets, cut into 1-inch pieces

3    ounces thin rice stick noodles, soaked in hot water
for 10 minutes and drained

4    kaffir lime leaves (optional), thinly sliced

2    teaspoons fish sauce

Grated zest and juice of 2 limes

In food processor, process shallot, chiles, garlic, lemongrass, ginger, and cilantro stems with oil until pureed as fine as possible, stopping machine and scraping sides of bowl occasionally.

Heat large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add chile puree and sauté for about 3 minutes, or until mixture is fragrant. Add coconut milk and water, cover, bring to simmer, and simmer for about 10 minutes, or until flavors have blended.

Add shrimp, snapper, noodles, lime leaves, if using, and fish sauce to coconut broth and simmer for about 3 minutes, or until seafood and noodles are just cooked through. Stir in lime zest and juice. Season to taste with salt.

Transfer to bowls, sprinkle with cilantro leaves, and serve immediately.

Per serving:
Calories: 295
Total Fat: 11 g
Saturated Fat: 3 g
Sodium: 526 mg
Carbohydrate: 18 g
Fiber: 2 g
Protein: 29 g

Diabetic Exchanges: 1 starch, 4 lean meat, 0.5 vegetable, 2 fat

Ready for more great seafood? Try Curtis Stone’s Whole Grilled Branzino with Soy-Ginger Sauce at saturdayeveningpost.com/branzino.

Reprinted from What’s for Dinner by Curtis Stone. Copyright ©2013 by Curtis Stone. Excerpted by permission of Ballantine Books, a division of Random House  LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission from publisher.

This article is featured in the March/April 2025 issue of The Saturday Evening Post. Subscribe to the magazine for more art, inspiring stories, fiction, humor, and features from our archives.