Whole30 Salmon Lunch Bowl

This Whole30 Salmon Lunch Bowl is made with cauliflower rice, blackened salmon, avocado, roasted tomatoes, and is ready in 30 minutes or less!

This one’s for all my Whole30 friends, aka Miguel. Yup, he’s doing it, and he’s doing really well so far, but I think this blackened salmon lunch bowl would help to make his lunches just a liiiiiittle more exciting. 

Hopefully you Whole30-ers will agree. Again, I’ve never done Whole30, but I think a lot of people struggle with how to make their food more flavorful while still keeping it healthy. I assure you this salmon lunch bowl is anything but bland. 

Now, please tell me about your weekend! Did you eat at a new restaurant? See a good movie? I did none of the above, but still had a really nice weekend. I had the worst headache ever Friday (yeah, they’re still happening..), so the only thing I really got accomplished was one blog recipe. Miguel and I watched ‘Allied’ Friday night and both thought it was kind of “meh” and super slow in the beginning. If you’ve seen it, let me know if you agree or not because I’m curious as to what other people think.

Saturday my head felt muuuuch better, so me and the fam (Miguel and Layla) went for a walk around Point State Park and then swung by Frick Park for their mini Earth Day festival, aka live music and tons of happy Pittsburghers. I ran some errands and picked up some photography supplies, and then at night we watched Patriots Day, a movie about the Boston marathon bombing, and we both really enjoyed it. It’s genuinely entertaining and shows how the day played out from various points of view. And last, yesterday was spent doing work, work, work, work, work, in the morning and afternoon before heading to my grandparent’s house to celebrate my grandpa’s birthday. Super low-key weekend, which are often times the best. 

Don’t think I forgot about this Whole30 salmon!

So what’s exactly in this bowl? The base is made of cauliflower rice and then it’s topped with blackened salmon (similar to this kind), almond flour-breaded avocado, roasted tomatoes, and plenty of lime juice. It’s flavorful and possibly best of all, super filling!

Tip: I originally used one head of cauliflower for the rice, but I realized that the salmon to cauliflower ratio was a bit off, so I’d actually recommend using two heads of cauliflower. 

The best part is that this Whole30 salmon comes together in 30 minutes or less <—my favorite kind of meals!

Whole30 Salmon Lunch Bowl

• Author: The Almond Eater
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Yield: 2 1x

Scale 1x2x3x

Ingredients

• 2 heads cauliflower, stem removed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 cup cucumber, sliced*
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 1 avocado
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 2 pieces of salmon (approx. .5 lbs each)
• Juice of 1 lime
• 2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp oregano
• 1/8 tsp thyme

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Place cauliflower in a food processor (you’ll probably have to do each cauliflower head separately), and pulse until cauliflower is a rice-like consistency, approximately 30 seconds; set it aside.
3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add garlic cloves, stirring occasionally. Add cauliflower rice to the skillet and stir to give the cauliflower a mild garlic flavor. Pour rice into two separate bowls and set aside.
4. Once oven is heated, place tomatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle a small amount of olive oil or avocado oil over them and roast tomatoes for approximately 10 minutes.
5. To make the salmon: Place a skillet over stovetop and heat on high. Next, combine spices in a bowl (pepper, chili powder, paprika, garlic, oregano, and thyme). Coat both sides of the salmon filets with lime juice and then dip them in the spice bowl until both sides are coated with spices. Place salmon in hot skillet, place a lid over the skillet and cook each salmon filet for approximately 3-4 minutes per side.
6. To make the avocado: place almond flour in a bowl. Cut avocado, slice it and then place individual slices into almond flour to coat. Optional: heat 1-2 tbsp oil in a skillet and add avocado to “fry” it.
7. Assemble bowl with rice, roasted tomatoes, breaded avocado, sliced cucumber, and blackened salmon, sprinkle additional lime juice over top and enjoy!

Notes

*Could also sub zucchini if you prefer