Name: Sundried Tomato Pesto Salmon
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 35 min
Ingredients: 2 lbs of salmon fillets; Juice from half a lemon; 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (drained of oil); 2 garlic cloves (minced); 1/4 cup unsalted cashews; 1/2 cup olive oil; 1/4 cup packed fresh basil; 1/4 tsp salt (optional)

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This sun-dried tomato pesto salmon makes a healthy dinner that can be made in less than 30 minutes! A perfect meal for those busy weeknights! {Gluten-free, paleo & keto}

As some of you might know, we had a baby a little over two months ago and while it has been super exciting and I’m totally in love with this little guy, it’s also been quite the adjustment in lifestyle.

I’m loving being off on maternity leave and spending the day with my baby, but sometimes it feels like I accomplish NOTHING in a day.

Our two month old still requires quite a bit of attention and is feeding pretty much every 2-4 hours during the day, which means that this mama ain’t gettin’ much of anything done.

Other than feeding this little piggy, of course (I’ve officially turned into a milk machine), wiping up his spit up, trying to salvage his outfits after he has a massive blowout, and then once we’re all done that, we start the whole process all over again!

I can barely take a bathroom break let alone make big fancy meals.

And when I do go to make a meal, it’s usually only with one arm because the little guy is in the other arm because he won’t let me put him down for more than two seconds.

SO I totally get that this whole motherhood thing is no joke. There just isn’t a whole lot of spare time to get sh*t done.

These days, given my limited time and use of two arms, my goal is to make recipes that are quick, easy and healthy (while still being super delicious) so that I can spend more time with my family and get done all of the other things that I didn’t have time to do during the day.

Like bathing, for instance.

And that’s where salmon comes in.

Oh how I love salmon.

In the past, whenever I’ve been in a pinch, my go-to meal has usually been….you guessed it.

Salmon.

I love fish of any kind for a fast meal because you basically have to pop it in the oven for 20 minutes or so and it’s done.

Plus, we usually like to aim to have fish, especially the fattier fish, at least twice a week because it’s a great source of protein and omega 3’s.

Usually, we top the salmon with a mixture of Dijon mustard and dill or make this Walnut Crusted Salmon.

While it’s an awesome combination of flavours, let’s face it. After having the same salmon recipe week after week, it does start to get a little old.

So I made the decision that it was time to switch it up.

The other day, I was in a health food store picking up a few items, and I came across a sun-dried tomato pesto.

I was SO intrigued.

I absolutely adore pesto and have basically been putting it on everything imaginable these days, but I had never thought about doing a sun-dried tomato version of it before.

How to Make Your Own Sun-Dried Tomato Pesto

I immediately started experimenting with sun-dried tomato pesto recipes that night and decided to plop it on some salmon since that was our go-to meal of the night anyways.

I went with a dairy-free version without the cheese and I swear you don’t even miss it!

Here’s what went into the pesto:

Sun-dried tomatoes
Garlic cloves
Cashews
Olive oil
Fresh Basil
Salt

Blend it all up in a food processor and prepare your taste buds for this incredibly mouth watering pesto.

Can I freeze the Sun-dried tomato pesto?

So I totally get it.

Some days, you might not feel like making a batch of pesto and cooking up the salmon all in one go.

So why not make the pesto in advance and freeze it, so that it’s ready to heap on that salmon for a fast and easy meal any night of the week?!

I usually like to freeze pesto in an ice cube tray so that you can pop out the cubes of pesto to thaw out as you need them, but it’s up to you how you freeze it.

If you’d like to try this method, make up a batch of the pesto, freeze it using your desired method and let it thaw out overnight in the fridge when ready to use.

Simply spread on the salmon, bake and dinner is served!

At the end of the day, the sun-dried tomato pesto adds SO much flavour to the salmon. It pairs especially well with this Oven Roasted Broccoli with Lemon and Parmesan.

I’ll definitely be adding this recipe to our weekly menu rotation, as it can be prepared in less than 30 minutes.

Bonus for busy mamas!!!

Looking for other delicious and simple fish recipes? Check these out:

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