Wild salmon. One of my favorite foods. Fresh buttery raw salmon sashimi is one of the few foods that I can place above others.
If most foods are up here, then good salmon sashimi is up here:
I'm so glad that wild salmon is available right now. I try to avoid purchasing farmed stuff for the most part. I don't know about the details in the States, but I can only assume that they are just as bad if not worse than the salmon farming practices in Canada and Europe. Here's the situation: wild salmon have a life cycle that begins in freshwater streams, then they swim downstream to the ocean where most of their lives are spent until it's time for them to reproduce at which point they make the most amazing and long voyage upstream to lay their eggs in freshwater streams (if they survive the trip) and then most types of salmon will die at this point (few species will actually do multiple spawning runs in their lifetime – thank you Wikipedia).
On the West Coast, salmon farms are essentially netted areas in the ocean that the fish live in. The farms are often located along water routes that the wild salmon use during spawning. In some of the more narrow passages these farms are densely positioned. The problem is that the salmon in the farms are more susceptible to diseases and parasites. So not only is the health of these farmed fish not that great (and can greatly effect the quality of the meat of the fish products that you purchase in the supermarket), but the wild salmon swimming through these waters are then exposed to all these diseases. There is a fantastic video that I highly recommend – it is an hour long but really eye-opening and scary look into the political views on the health of our environment. (I decided I should look into reviews about this film but everything that I found that had anything negative to say about the film was actually from salmon farmers- not surprisingly- and also found some newspaper articles about more recent sketchy moves by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans. Click on the photos above to see even more shocking stories around the farmed salmon industry.)
So that's why I try to stick to the wild stuff. Anyway, Horseradish Honey Mustard Pecan Encrusted Salmon is a fantastic salmon recipe. Sorry for the long name. I should have included “dill” in there too… This recipe was even approved by an amazing chef friend of mine who does not like their fish encrusted (I don't know why; she didn't tell me).
The weird thing is how sweet the horseradish becomes once baked – it was soooo hot when I was tasting the sauce beforehand. If you want more spicy zing of horseradish, serve with our killer hot paleo horseradish sauce.
Well, friends, I'd love to hear what you think about this one!

Horseradish Honey Mustard Pecan Encrusted Salmon
- Total Time: 39 minute
Description
Make sure to get a good sized fillet so that you will have leftovers for the next day to brag about!
Ingredients
- ~0.8kg (28oz) wild salmon fillets
- 1/2 – 1 inch horseradish root (finely grated)
- 1 heaping Tbsp Dijon mustard
- 1 heaping Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp dill
- 1/2 cup pecans (coarsely ground)
- ~1.5 tsp salt
- ~1.5 tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 F.
- Mix horseradish, mustard, honey, and dill together in a bowl. This mixture is very runny, so I put it in the fridge for ~5 minutes to solidify a bit so it's a little easier to use.
- Line a cookie sheet with tin foil, shiny side up (I made the mistake of using my friend's broiler pan, which was apparently a major pain to clean the skin off of afterwards).
- Place salmon on tin foil, skin side down.
- Lightly dust/sprinkle salt and garlic powder over the salmon.
- Spoon mustard mixture over salmon and spread evenly.
- Sprinkle pecans over salmon evenly.
- Bake for ~10-13 minutes, or until salmon flakes easily with a fork.
- Prep Time: 5 min
- Cook Time: 10-13 min
- Category: Seafood
Mmmmm…this was honestly one of the best meals I’ve had in a while. Sooooooo good!!!
(p.s. now I get why you were fussing with those selfies Raj, haha…and to everyone else, yes, that’s exactly how he feels about GOOD salmon sashimi, it’s an obsession, lol)
Haha,
Thanks Pam!
Can you buy fresh horseradish in grocery stores? Would jarred horseradish work? What do you know about digging up horseradish from the back yard and usage of the fresh root?
Hey Mom,
I haven’t been able to find prepared stuff that was paleo- sugar and canola oil are usually added.
I was able to buy the root (see food photos above). I don’t know anything about growing horseradish.
One thing I can tell you is that fresh horseradish is about twice as hot as the prepared mixture. But in this recipe it was sweet after baking with little-to-no bite.
This looks so yumee, will have to try it soon.
You have a new sub by 🙂
xoxo
http://www.cookwithdesy.com
Thank you Desy!
Let us know what you think, even post photos on our social media.
I love your salmon fillet photos! They look amazing! The Italy shots look great too!