by Food Blogger, Ella Woodward

The idea of Deliciously Ella, my food blog, developed last year after I was diagnosed with a relatively unknown autoimmune disease, Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTs). At that point I faced some pretty interesting challenges. My entire nervous system had shut down, to the point that I was unable to walk between my bedroom and the kitchen without blacking out. As you can imagine this was a little frustrating, so I decided to try a natural approach to healing. To learn to love and nurture my body through food, which has been  amazingly successful. The more I understand the more I want to share, to show how unbelievably creative, exciting and delicious nutritious food could be. Food really has a remarkable affect on our bodies, both physically and mentally. Harnessing this power in a positive way is incredible. It is a tool for absolute health and happiness! I want to inspire people to love healthy eating, to seeing it as a wonderful way of life, not as an imposition. All my recipes are gluten, dairy, sugar & meat free and use the purest, most natural foods to create the most delicious meals. These are my favourite dinner party dishes.

Roasted salmon with a soy, lime, chilli and ginger marinade

This is one of my go-to dinner party recipes. It always looks and tastes incredibly impressive, yet it is surprisingly easy to make, and even better it remains pretty uncomplicated no matter how many people you’re cooking for. The flavours are wonderfully intense, as the salmon fully soaks in the marinade to give it fantastic hints of tangy lime, rich and salty soy, spicy chilli and soothing ginger. Pre-marinating the fish and baking it with so much liquid also ensures that it remains beautifully soft and moist. I love to serve this dish with slow cooked cinnamon infused sweet potato wedges. Their sweet taste and tender texture really compliments the salmon. I’d normally add a green of choice too, often green beans as they add a fantastic little vitamin-infused crunch, but since their flavour isn’t too strong they don’t detract from the unbelievable flavours of the salmon and potatoes.

Serves 6 

6 salmon fillets

1 cup of soy sauce (check it is gluten free)

1 large knob of ginger

3 large jalapeño peppers

6 limes

On the side

6 sweet potatoes

Paprika

Cinnamon

6 handfuls of green beans

Method:
First make the sweet potato wedges. Slice them into chunky wedge shapes, then place them on a baking tray with a really generous amount of olive oil. Sprinkle salt, cinnamon and paprika over them before putting them in to bake at about 180C. They should take about an hour to become wonderfully soft and tender, the longer they cook the better.

For the salmon to fully soak up all of the delicious marinade it should be prepared about an hour before you want to cook.

Pour the soy sauce and squeezed limes into a small bowl. Peel and grate the ginger, then de-seed the peppers and slice them into tiny cubes. Add these both to the soy bowl and stir well.

Place the salmon into a deep baking tray and pour the marinade all over. Keep in the fridge until you’re ready to cook.

Once you’re nearly ready for dinner, place the salmon into a 200C oven and bake for 10-15 minutes.

While the salmon cooks steam the beans.