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I absolutely adore Thai food. It is one of my favorite cuisines. Although I love the curries best, I can never say no to a dish with peanut sauce over a great protein. But because I am limiting my intake of legumes, I instead wanted to use cashew butter in lieu of peanut butter.
Introducing… Salmon with Thai CASHEW Sauce!
For this dish, I paired the cashew sauce with salmon and spaghetti squash to create a well-balanced meal full of flavor and great texture!
This amazing sauce actually has a surprise ingredient: sweet potatoes!
That’s right, you can bulk up your sauce with hidden veggies, and no one would ever know it. Sweet potatoes are so full of vitamins and fiber, and yet, you can’t even taste it in the sauce!
The sweet potato also gives the sauce a silkier, mousse-like texture. Most importantly, it is so delicious!
It’s amazing how many uses this sauce has. Cashew sauce is delicious over any protein and veggie dish. Stir frys, zoodles (zucchini noodles), spring rolls… it is so versatile! If you are a brand new post-op patient, just skip the veggie sides and do the protein and the sauce to fill up; the veggies are already built in!
- 4 salmon fillets
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1.5 cup water
- 1 medium sweet potato, chopped into 1-inch chunks
- 1/2 cup cashew butter
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 tsp powdered ginger
- 1 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce (coconut aminos for Paleo/Whole30)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- Juice and zest of 1/2 lime
- Chopped cashews, chopped cilantro, and lime wedges for garnish, if desired
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum. Place thawed salmon fillets onto sheet. Drizzle olive oil over both sides of each salmon. Salt and pepper each fillet to your liking. Bake for 10-12 minutes, until salmon is easily flaked with a fork.
- [url href=”http://www.bariatriceats.com/three-ways-to-cook-spaghetti-squash-including-the-easy-no-sweat-method/” target=”_blank”]Cook your spaghetti squash using either one of my methods[/url], or your own preferred method. Allow it to cool after cooking, then run a fork through the flesh to make it stringy.
- Bring a pot with 1 cup water to boil. Add sweet potato to boiling water and allow it to cook until it is very tender when pierced with a fork. Turn off heat.
- [i][b]Do not drain water! [/b][/i]You will need the starch in the water to make this sauce stick together well.
- Add to the pot cashew butter, garlic, powdered ginger, and soy sauce (or coconut aminos).
- To blend your sauce, you can either move all of the ingredients into a regular blender or you can mix it directly in the pot using an immersion blender. Once all of the ingredients are smoothly blended, add sesame oil, lime juice and zest, and blend again.
- Top spaghetti squash and salmon with cashew sauce, and sprinkle chopped cashews, cilantro, and a drizzle of lime juice, if desired.
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