Herb-Baked Salmon with Roasted Broccoli and Brown Rice
A simple sheet-pan salmon baked with lemon and dill, served over brown rice with roasted broccoli. A clean, low-mercury source of the omega-3 DHA that is genuinely hard to get from plants alone.
Why it works
Salmon is a low-mercury fish rich in the omega-3 DHA, which accumulates in the fetal brain and retina during the second and third trimesters and cannot be made efficiently by the body from plant precursors. Baking the salmon to an opaque, flaky center ensures it is fully cooked, avoiding the listeria and parasite risks of raw or undercooked fish, while the broccoli adds folate, vitamin C, and calcium.
US and international guidance recommends 8 to 12 oz per week of low-mercury fish such as salmon during pregnancy, and salmon is explicitly on the FDA/EPA best-choices list. Randomized and cohort evidence on maternal DHA supplementation shows small benefits for gestational length and some infant visual and cognitive measures; the signal is real but modest.
Ingredients
- 2 salmon fillets (about 150 g each), skin on
- 1 large head broccoli (about 350 g), cut into florets
- 1 cup (185 g) cooked brown rice
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 lemon, half juiced and half sliced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Method
- Heat the oven to 200 C (400 F) and line a baking sheet with parchment.
- Toss the broccoli florets with 1 tablespoon olive oil and half the salt, spread on one side of the sheet, and roast for 10 minutes.
- Pat the salmon dry and set it skin-side down on the other side of the sheet; rub with the remaining olive oil, garlic, lemon juice, dill, remaining salt, and the pepper, and lay lemon slices on top.
- Return the sheet to the oven and bake 10 to 12 more minutes, until the salmon flakes easily and is opaque all the way through (an internal temperature of 63 C / 145 F).
- Warm the brown rice.
- Divide the rice between two plates and top each with a salmon fillet and a generous portion of roasted broccoli.
