Cooking How-To: Healthy Salmon

Need a good reason to serve fish? Eating wild Alaskan salmon is one of the best ways to get important omega-3 fatty acids into your diet. Omega-3s offer protection against heart attack, stroke, cancer and inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis. However, how you store and cook salmon can affect these essential nutrients, which can be destroyed by exposure to air, light and heat. According to the National Fisheries Institute, freezing fish and other seafood as well as avoiding certain cooking methods (like deep-frying, blackening or sautéing at high temperatures) will cause minimal loss of the health-protective omega-3 fatty acids they contain.

 The best way to preserve omega-3s in salmon and keep down your total fat intake is to bake, broil, poach, steam or grill them just to the point of doneness that you prefer, and avoid adding fatty condiments.

In this recipe for Hemp-Crusted Salmon with Yuzu Ponzu - from my Phoenix restaurant, True Food Kitchen - salmon is lightly seared then baked.