If there’s one thing I love, it’s a recipe that’s delicious, colorful, nourishing, and beyond easy. This sheet pan salmon checks all the boxes and has become my go-to recipe for a quick weeknight dinner! Eating clean is all about making changes that you can stick to, and there’s no way I’d be able to stick to it if eating healthy required hours in the kitchen every night.
This recipe shows you that healthy dinners are not only doable, they’re delicious!
Why is this meal healthy?
On top of being the easiest meal you’ll ever make, this sheet pan dinner is packed with anti-inflammatory nutrients. Salmon is a great source of omega-3 fatty acids, a type of unsaturated fat that helps improve cardiovascular health by reducing inflammation. In addition to salmon, eating a rainbow of vegetables gives your body a variety of phytonutrients that reduce inflammation. Tomatoes are packed with vitamin C and lycopene, antioxidants that have been shown to reduce inflammation. Peppers are also packed with the antioxidant vitamin C, and also contain capsaicinoids, components that have anti-inflammatory benefits. As a cruciferous vegetable, broccoli is associated with decreased risk of heart disease and cancer, thanks to its anti-inflammatory effects. Broccoli is also rich in an antioxidant called sulforaphane, which has been shown to reduce inflammation.
What is inflammation?
Inflammation is our bodies’ defense mechanism against damage to tissues. When harm is caused by a virus or unwelcome bacteria, our bodies respond with inflammation to signal our immune system to step in and remove the substance or repair tissue. That kind of acute inflammation is healthy and necessary for staying well, but when your body is constantly sending out inflammatory signals in a state of chronic inflammation, it becomes a major contributor to nearly every chronic disease.
The way you eat plays a huge role in the inflammatory state of your body. Some foods trigger inflammation more than others, and when your diet is packed with pro-inflammatory foods, your body is constantly responding with inflammatory signals. Foods like refined sugars and carbohydrates and unhealthy fats (think soda, candy, white bread, fast food) contribute to inflammation. When those foods make up much of your diet, you can be putting your body in a state of chronic inflammation.
The same way a diet full of pro-inflammatory foods promotes inflammation, a diet full of healthy anti-inflammatory foods protects your body against chronic inflammation (and the host of health issues that come along with it).
My 21-Day Nourish Program is a fantastic model of what a healthy, anti-inflammatory diet looks like. In fact, the Sheet Pan Salmon with Rainbow Veggies recipe you’ll find below comes directly from the 21-Day Nourish Cookbook that you receive when you register! The 21-Day Nourish Cookbook is filled with over 150 anti-inflammatory recipes that make healthy eating easy and delicious.
In addition to an incredible cookbook full of healthy seasonal recipes, Nourish provides you with support from me and a community of people in the same boat as you. Together we navigate making healthy changes so that clean eating can be an accessible, realistic, and long-lasting habit.
If you’re thinking about trying an anti-inflammatory diet, but don’t know where to start, join us during the next session. Click here to learn more!
Sheet Pan Salmon with Rainbow Veggies
Ingredients
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
- 2 cups broccoli cut into florets
- 1/2 red onion sliced
- 10 ounces salmon filets
- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 1/2 tsp coconut aminos
- 1/2 navel orange zested and juiced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- Place the salmon filets on a sheet pan and spread the vegetables in a single layer around them. Drizzle everything with the olive oil.
- In a small bowl, stir together the coconut aminos with the orange zest and juice. Drizzle this mixture over the salmon and veggies.
- Season everything lightly with salt and pepper, then bake for 25 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and the veggies are tender. Enjoy!