Last night Danny and I decided to challenge ourselves to make a completely whole30 compliant salmon poké bowl. I say Danny and I but it was really all Danny. I only have success in the kitchen if I can follow a recipe to a T, whereas, Danny is able to mix ingredients and flavours together and they always taste amazing. I’ll never understand it nor have that gift which is why he’s great to have around. For anyone new to me and my whole30 venture, you can check out more around it here. I’m also now on day 5 and feeling great! Last year I wrote about how I felt after the first week and I’m feeling relatively the same.

Lately I’ve been craving salty, tangy asian food and that’s always hard because you can’t have soy sauce, but yesterday I discovered a soy replacement made from coconut sap which has changed my life. I found it at our local grocery store in the health aisle and paid about $9 for it which is honestly better than I expected and totally worth it. I really wanted to make this work and omg you guys, this was probably the best whole30 meal I have EVER had! Both Danny and I devoured our bowls within minutes – they tasted like they were straight from a Japanese restaurant but made with no grains, no dairy, no sugar, no soy, no legumes, and no alcohol – not that there would normally be alcohol but those are the guidelines of whole30. The cauliflower rice reminded us both of the imitation crab they use for sushi which made it taste even better – almost better than rice and without the heavy feeling you get in your gut after eating a whole bowl of rice.

I hate recipes that are filled with intense ingredients that you can only find at specialty stores and cost you more than it would be to just go out for the same thing. For this recipe we had almost everything at home the only special ingredients we had to pick up were the soy replacement, pickled ginger, and nori. I can’t say this enough that this was the best whole30 creation we’ve ever made so I definitely suggest trying it out!

INGREDIENTS FOR TWO BOWLS:

BOWL CONTENTS:

250 grams fresh raw salmon cubed and marinated in salmon marinade

whole cauliflower made into cauliflower rice – I used this recipe

1/2 cucumber sliced

1 avocado cubed

1 jalapeño sliced

1 tbs pickled ginger chopped

1 sheet nori cut into thin strips

1 tbs sesame seeds

SALMON MARINADE:

1/4 cup soy replacement (found in the health food aisle at Super store, can also use coconut aminos)

1/4 cup white vinegar

half a lime juiced

1 tbs sesame oil

pinch of salt

SPICY SAUCE:

1/2 cup whole roasted salted cashews

2 tbs Franks Hot sauce

1 tbs white vinegar

1/2 tsp salt

1 tbs salsa macha – basically chilis in oil but could also use dried chilis

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup water

In a medium bowl make the salmon marinade by whisking all the ingredients together. Place the cubed salmon in the bowl with the marinade and let sit in the fridge for 1/2 an hour. The marinade with the acids (vinegar, lime juice) are going to be what ‘cooks’ the salmon so it’s safe to eat. While the salmon is marinating, make the spicy sauce for the bowl – combine all ingredients in a blender, blend for about 3 minutes or until smooth. Also important to make sure you cool the cauliflower rice before assembling the bowls – you don’t want hot cauli-rice. To assemble the bowls start with the cauli-rice, then in sections around the bowl add the cucumber, avocado, jalapeños, and marinated salmon. Top with the spicy sauce, pickled ginger, nori strips, and sesame seeds. I would also suggest adding another small dash of the soy replacement for extra flavour. The soy replacement is also less salty than regular soy sauce so keep that in mind when making the marinade and spicy sauce when salting.

I hope you guys loved this recipe and give it a try! Let me know if you do – would love to hear how it turned out!

xx

Tessa