Sasha's Kitchen: Wild Salmon with Organic Baby Carrot-Ginger Puree

My original plans for this dish involved making a celery root puree, which is something I have often enjoyed at restaurants (recently inspired by a great dinner at Mas Farmhouse in Manhattan for my husband's birthday).  I had ordered a large celery root from Fresh Direct recently and what arrived was a large root vegetable that looked like a brain.  I didn't have time to figure out how to turn it into a puree during the week so I went for a simpler organic baby carrot puree this time with the salmon.  I'll do the celery root tomorrow night with scallops.

My plans for this dish were to showcase wild organic salmon with some fresh seasonal vegetables.  I decided to use organic baby carrot for the puree, which I prepared with ginger and a bit of cinnamon.  Then, I added local fresh golden beets from the organic market.  I am a huge beet fan, but I truly love golden beets because they're just as delicious and sweet but they don't turn everything in creation magenta so they are much easier to work with.  They are also perfectly in season this time of year.  If you prefer, I think this dish would also taste great with steamed asparagus.

Sasha's Salmon with Organic Baby Carrot - Ginger Puree
2 filets (7 oz each) or organic fresh salmon
16 oz (one bag) of organic baby carrots
3 tsp of minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 lemon
white wine to taste
2 golden beets
small amount of arugula

To prepare the puree, cook the carrots in your steamer until soft. Puree in a blender or food processor with the cream, chicken broth and ginger.  Stir in the cinnamon to taste and set aside.

To prepare the salmon, I simply cut up a lemon and baked the fish (at about 350F) with sliced lemon on top, and poured some white wine over the top of the fish.

To prepare the beets, I boiled them for about half an hour.  Then, I cooled them in some cold water and rubbed the skin off and sliced the golden beets.  If you are using asparagus instead, you can simply steam the asparagus and add a bit of lemon juice.  I plated the fish in the puree with the beets, and garnished with a bit of fresh arugula.

Salmon