Salmon Fillets with a Wasabi Coating

Preparation In a saucepan, cook the wild rice (two parts water to one part rice) by boiling for 45 minutes. Leave to the side to cool. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, cover the beet with water; bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the beet is tender. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and cut the beet into coarse chunks. Chop the pomegranate in half and extract the seeds. Add the pomegranate, beet, olive oil, and mint to the rice. Leave to the side. Make the wasabi coating by mixing together the mayonnaise, cumin, and wasabi. Taste and adjust if you want. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Wash and dry the salmon, and season. Heat a griddle or ovenproof frying pan big enough to fit both salmon fillets and, when it is searing hot, drop in the salmon, skin-side down. Turn after 5 minutes or when the skin is brown and crispy. Take off the heat, carefully turn again, and spoon the wasabi coating onto the top of the salmon. Put the pan into the oven and cook for around 10 minutes, until the coating begins to brown. Serve on the wild rice. Recipes by Sophie Dahl. Reprinted with permission from Very Fond of Food: A Year in Recipes by Sophie Dahl, © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Sophie Dahl began her career as a model, but writing was always her first love. In 2003 she wrote an illustrated novella called The Man with the Dancing Eyes, which was a Times bestselling book. This was followed by a novel, Playing with the Grown-Ups, published to widespread praise by Bloomsbury in 2007. Dahl is a contributing editor at British Vogue. She has also written for US Vogue, Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine, the Observer, the Guardian, and the Saturday Times Magazine, among others. A devoted eater and cook, she wrote a book chronicling her misadventures with food, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, published by HarperCollins in 2009, which was her second Times bestseller. Following the success of Voluptuous Delights, Dahl wrote and presented a popular BBC2 six-part cooking series, The Delicious Miss Dahl, which aired in numberous countries all over the world. Dahl lives in England, where she continues to work on her journalism, fiction, and baking.

Preparation In a saucepan, cook the wild rice (two parts water to one part rice) by boiling for 45 minutes. Leave to the side to cool. Meanwhile, in another saucepan, cover the beet with water; bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes, until the beet is tender. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, peel off the skin and cut the beet into coarse chunks. Chop the pomegranate in half and extract the seeds. Add the pomegranate, beet, olive oil, and mint to the rice. Leave to the side. Make the wasabi coating by mixing together the mayonnaise, cumin, and wasabi. Taste and adjust if you want. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C. Wash and dry the salmon, and season. Heat a griddle or ovenproof frying pan big enough to fit both salmon fillets and, when it is searing hot, drop in the salmon, skin-side down. Turn after 5 minutes or when the skin is brown and crispy. Take off the heat, carefully turn again, and spoon the wasabi coating onto the top of the salmon. Put the pan into the oven and cook for around 10 minutes, until the coating begins to brown. Serve on the wild rice. Recipes by Sophie Dahl. Reprinted with permission from Very Fond of Food: A Year in Recipes by Sophie Dahl, © 2011. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc. Sophie Dahl began her career as a model, but writing was always her first love. In 2003 she wrote an illustrated novella called The Man with the Dancing Eyes, which was a Times bestselling book. This was followed by a novel, Playing with the Grown-Ups, published to widespread praise by Bloomsbury in 2007. Dahl is a contributing editor at British Vogue. She has also written for US Vogue, Waitrose Food Illustrated magazine, the Observer, the Guardian, and the Saturday Times Magazine, among others. A devoted eater and cook, she wrote a book chronicling her misadventures with food, Miss Dahl's Voluptuous Delights, published by HarperCollins in 2009, which was her second Times bestseller. Following the success of Voluptuous Delights, Dahl wrote and presented a popular BBC2 six-part cooking series, The Delicious Miss Dahl, which aired in numberous countries all over the world. Dahl lives in England, where she continues to work on her journalism, fiction, and baking.