Baked Salmon With Lemon and Herbs
In a landmark presentation speech given at Stanford Medical School in 2002, Dr. Matthias Rath discussed the possibility of eradicating heart disease when a connection was discovered between the sailor’s disease scurvy and cardiovascular disease. Scurvy is now know to be caused by a severe vitamin C deficiency. The arteries, veins and capillaries in our bodies are a 60,000 mile long pipeline and it’s the stability of the walls, not something (i.e. cholesterol) present in the blood flowing through them, that is the problem. Vitamin C ascorbic acid deficiency results in two metamorphic changes of the vascular wall: impaired vascular stability due to decreased collagen synthesis and loss of endothelia barrier function. The sailor’s of earlier centuries dies within a few months from hemorrhagic blood loss because of their on board diet deficiencies. When Indians gave sailor’s suffering from scurvy tea made from tree barks rich in vitamin C, blood loss was stopped and their vascular walls healed naturally. Scurvy is rare these days but most people suffer from chronic vitamin deficiency which over decades means micro lesions developing in the vascular walls especially the coronary arteries.
Both lemons and salmon are good for heart health. Salmon gives us the healthy omega-3 fatty acids which reduces inflammation in the body so cholesterol is not used by the body to patch the damaged walls of our pipeline causing a narrowing of the vessels and clogs. Lemons are a good source of vitamin C ascorbic acid the body uses to keep the strength and integrity of the walls in place.
Baked Salmon With Lemon and Herbs
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 pounds salmon, skin removed
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, avocado oil or light olive oil*
- 2 small cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons dried basil or dill, or 1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley
- 2 teaspoons salt
- pepper
- 2 lemons
- 1/2 onion, sliced
Instructions
Rinse salmon and pat dry with paper towels and place in a pyrex casserole. Mix the oil and garlic together. Drizzle with half the oil mixture over the salmon and sprinkle it with half of the basil, parsley and salt. Sprinkle with pepper. Turn over and repeat on the other side then turn back over. Cut slices out of the middle of the lemons. Squeeze out the juice in the ends over the salmon (about 1 tablespoon), then lay the slices on the salmon. Place the onion slices on top. Bake in a 350 oven for 30 minutes. Remove and let sit 5 minutes. It will be almost cooked with you remove it and finish cooking to perfection as it sits.*
This is delicious served chilled with a salad or hot with steamed asparagus and brown rice with toasted almonds.
*Trader Joe’s Trader Grotto’s Sicilian (cold pressed) Extra Virgin Olive Oil is a blend of three olives from Sicily, packaged in Italy in a beautiful bottle. It’s light and delicious. Store it in the dark and use up within a month.
**Salmon is wonderful when it’s tender and loses all of its taste when it is overcooked and it becomes tough.
Easy Brown Rice
To cook rice, fill a saucepan with a tight fitting lid three quarters full with water and bring to a boil. Rinse the desired amount of rice with water using a sieve. Once the water is boiling, add the rice. Let the rice boil uncovered for 35 minutes, then remove from heat and drain all the water out. Put the lid on the saucepan and let stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove lid, sprinkle the rice with a half teaspoon of salt and fluff the rice with a fork.
