Summers' Summer Salmon Bowls (and a mini recap)
hi friends! hoping you are all coming to the end of a fantastic summer -- that you've been able to rest and recharge or play or create or travel or stay home or whatever it is you hoped to do this summer.
summer for us has been a bit of a whirlwind in some ways, a bit of a slower season in others. Michael interned in Brooklyn for majority of the summer, which meant more chill evenings with no reading to do for school but also meant commuting home from BK on the subway every night. which meant getting home at 7pm every night (when he's usually home at 5pm). which meant the girls either stayed up late to be able to see him (for reference, they're usually in bed by 6pm - early birds around here), or I took care of bedtime solo. needless to say, we're excited for him to be home earlier and to get back to a normal nighttime routine come the fall semester! on the bright side, we were able to have slow summer mornings together as a family since he went into work later, so we'll take it. :)
we're coming to the end of three glorious weeks Michael had off of both work and school, and it was honestly as wonderful as it sounds. we've been so spoiled to have him around for three weeks with no plans and have been enjoying lots of leisurely breakfasts at home, impromptu outings, and just wrapped up a week long visit to Oregon to visit his parents (planning to share a blog post soon of photos from the trip!). it's been so rejuvenating soaking up these last three weeks of summer as a family. exactly what we needed to feel ready for the upcoming semester and some routine. bring it on, fall.
okay, so now to the most important part of this blog post -- the salmon bowls. ohhhh, the salmon bowls. the mvp of the summer in the summers household (the summers' summer salmon bowls, as I like to call them as of right now. say that five times fast). I shared about the salmon bowls we've been making a ton this summer on instagram a while back and I don't think I've ever gotten more messages about a post. so I figured I owed it to everyone to share the recipe here -- SO easy, kid-approved, and will definitely be on the menu in our home for the foreseeable future. just plain yummy, you guys.
summers' summer salmon bowls
salmon (*we usually use somewhere around 2 lbs for our family)
mini cucumbers
avocado
sesame seeds (*toast them in the oven for a few minutes before adding them to your bowl!)
brown rice
spicy mayo (*I usually double these measurements)
2 tbsp mayonnaise
2 tsp sriracha
1/4 tsp sesame oil
yummy sauce
(**we make the sauce from this recipe and have just started calling it "yummy sauce" -- I usually triple the below measurements it so we have plenty to use for marinating the salmon and topping our bowls with)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 tsp coarse or kosher salt, plus more to taste
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp mild honey
1 tsp asian sesame oil
dash of sriracha
combine the yummy sauce ingredients in a large bowl. put your salmon in a baking dish and pour some sauce on it to marinate (not necessary, but recommended). I usually let it marinate for as long as I have time to before everyone's hungry. whatever works for you here!
preheat the oven to 350 degrees. bake the salmon (in the sauce you marinated it in - make sure it's nice and slathered in the sauce before baking) for about 25min or until the internal temp is 145 degrees (around 25 minutes or so, maybe a bit longer).
while the salmon bakes, prep your toppings and make your spicy mayo. slice the cucumbers, avocados, and toast your sesame seeds in the oven for a few minutes (not necessary, but recommended). mix mayo, sriracha, and sesame oil in a bowl and set aside.
to serve, top each bowl of rice with salmon, cucumbers, avocado, yummy sauce, spicy mayo, and toasted sesame seeds.
enjoy! xx
- heather