Salmon Pesto Beauty Bowl

Continuing onward with the healthy, chock-full-of-vitamins-and-minerals, lighter fare trend for recipe #33, I opted to whip up another “beauty” bowl.  The reason these bowls are named as such is because the ingredients found within work wonders for your health.  They are AWESOME for your body.  Hence, I call them a beauty bowl because the foods included literally help with making you glow (both with feeling awesome on the inside and looking fabulous on the outside).

This recipe is gluten-free, sugar-free, very low in lactose, and you could nearly label it a “raw” recipe as well.  To describe a few of the health benefits for each of the included ingredients:

*Salmon can help protect the body from free radical damage.  Its also amazing for hair, skin, eyes, bones, and nails.  Eating salmon can help prevent heart disease.  It can also help with support to brain functioning and eye health.

*Quinoa is high in protein and gluten free.  It has been used to promote healing of the skin.  It can also help with energy metabolism of the brain and muscles.  Just google “why is quinoa good for you” and check it out for yourself.  This seed is being called a “new superfood.”

*Spinach boosts anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer benefits.

*Bell peppers help boost your immune system.  They are also great for your skin.  They are anti-inflammatory and can play a role in helping prevent certain types of cancer.

*Onions can help increase bone density.  They provide major anti-inflammatory benefits. Onions have been repeatedly shown to help decrease the risk of certain types of cancers.

*Avocados are amazing for you.  Just to name a few of the benefits: they help protect your eyesight, are good for your bones, GREAT for your skin, can help reduce symptoms of arthritis, the list goes on.

*Pine nuts help boost your energy, they help reduce your risk of heart disease, they have anti-aging antioxidants inside and are great for your vision health.

*Goat cheese has less lactose and a different protein structure then cows milk.  It also contains more vitamins and minerals then cows milk.

 

Salmon Pesto Beauty Bowl

So, as made painfully obvious by the list of food items and their health benefits which I offered to you above, for this particular beauty bowl combination I recommend the following ingredients:

-a filet of cooked salmon (I drizzle some olive oil on top to keep it moist, then bake in the oven uncovered for roughly 15-20 minutes on 325 degrees F/170 degrees C).

-1 cup of Quinoa, cooked (follow instructions on package for cooking, its similar to how one cooks rice)

-1 cup of greens (I like spinach and arugula)

-1 bell pepper, chopped into bite sized pieces (you can chose either red, yellow or orange)

-1 small handful of chopped red onion

-Half an avocado, sliced

-Goat cheese (to your liking)

-A drizzle of Pesto

-Sprinkle of pine nuts

And viola, there you have it.  Mix it all together in a large bowl.  DELISH!