Recipe

Salmon and Vegetable Chickpea Pasta Bowl

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This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Seafood Pasta
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testkitchenette's Notes: Two nights ago I went to my brother’s house to teach my brother and his wife how to make summer rolls. I also made a roasted vegetable and chickpea salad for extra sustenence. This is the...
Two nights ago I went to my brother’s house to teach my brother and his wife how to make summer rolls. I also made a roasted vegetable and chickpea salad for extra sustenence. This is the meal I made for myself last night using the leftover aforementioned salad.

I remember the first time I ever had a pomegranate. I was over my neighbor Lisa’s house (my bff back then) and her mom had brought home pomegranates from the supermarket. She called them “Chinese Apples”. We cut them and found garnet like nuggets within white pithyness. Needless to say, we made quite a mess of extracting the seeds and dyed our clothes in the process (pomegranates were used a a natural fabric dye back in the day). Nutritionally, pomegranates are powerhouses. They contains vitamin C, antioxidents, and fiber.

I am always looking for ways to use up ingredients in my fridge or cabinets with minimal shopping. I am also loving my newfound mostly vegan ways but have mentioned before that I occasionally get cravings for (and indulge in) red meat and seafood. Perhaps I should have called my blog The Faux Vegan or The Poser Vegan. Last night my body was wanting some salmon. Being a born and bred South Shore of Long Island girl, I have had a lifelong relationship with seafood. My parents took us fishing (Dad cleaned it and Mom cooked it), I ate clams on the half shell before nursery school (before nursery school age, not before school), was a skilled lobster cracker before the age of 8, and I thought that everyone at lox/baked salmon on their bagels in the morning. I just really like seafood. Anyway, I had some wild caught Alaskan salmon along with some sundried tomatoes, grape tomatoes, basil, kalamata olives, and a pomegranate. I think pomegranate seeds look like ruby teeth. I combined all of these ingredients into a lovely pasta bowl that I will be making again.

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Serves 4-8, depending upon how big portions are

Roasted Vegetable, Chickpea, and Raw Vegetable Components:

3 yellow onions, chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

2 red/orange/yellow pepper, seeded and chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

1 eggplant, chopped (I don't bother peeling or salting it here) Ask a question about this ingredient

1 15 oz. can of chickpeas Ask a question about this ingredient

2 tablespoons olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient

1 teaspoon salt Ask a question about this ingredient

black pepper Ask a question about this ingredient

1 box whole wheat spaghetti (or your choice of pasta), cooked al dente and reserved Ask a question about this ingredient

1 handful sundried tomatoes, chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

1 pint grape/cherry tomatoes Ask a question about this ingredient

1 handful basil, chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

seeds from 1 pomegranate Ask a question about this ingredient

1 handful kalamata olives, chopped Ask a question about this ingredient

1 lemon, zested and juiced Ask a question about this ingredient

Preheat the oven to 400F. In a large bowl, combine the onions, peppers, eggplant, chickpeas, olive oil, salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Transfer to a large cookie/jelly roll pan and roast until starting to brown and caramelize. Remove from oven and let cool.
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Pan Fried Salmon and Crispy Skin:

3-4 fillets salmon Ask a question about this ingredient

2 teaspoons olive oil Ask a question about this ingredient

salt and pepper Ask a question about this ingredient

For the salmon, all I did was heat up a bit of olive oil in a skillet. I used a straight up stainless steel skillet. When the oil was hot, I placed the salmon fillet on it skin side down and salt and peppered the side that was up. I cooked it on med/high for a few minutes (3-4) on each side. Then I took it out of the skillet and let it rest for a bit.
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Remove the skin and crisp it up a bit in the skillet. Cut it into strips.
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ASSEMBLY OF THE MEAL: I put the cooked pasta in the botton of the bowl and just added all of the other components on top of it, topping it with a sprinkling of the pomegranate seeds. It was really good. I think it would look really nice on a large platter with some cut lemons around it. Some toasted pine nuts may be a good idea also.
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