Sheet Pan Everything Bagel Salmon

You may have seen or heard of a few of these scare tactic documentaries, or the China Study, cited by so many vegan and vegetarian proponents that state that eating meat is the worst thing we could ever do for our health, that it’s linked to cancer, heart disease, and every lifestyle disease plaguing the world right now.

They’re not all right, but they’re not necessarily all wrong either. The problem with the studies used in those documentaries and books proclaiming how awful meat is, is that the subjects they used in those studies were consuming meat from CAFO’s (concentrated animal feeding operation), where animals are packed into extremely tight spaces, cages, fed a diet that is completely unnatural to them (usually corn, soy, and other pesticide-treated grain) to fatten them up as much as possible, and then given antibiotics when they inevitably get sick from living in these completely unethical and unnatural conditions.

Here’s the problem. When animals eat pesticide-treated or GMO-produced feed, and then are given antibiotics to keep them alive even when they are extremely sick, that gets stored in the fat of the animals. When we eat those animal products, we are the consuming those same toxins, which can then create inflammation in our bodies. These are the animals and animal products the subjects of those studies were consuming, so of course it seems like eating more animal products can lead to these diseases. Because if you’re consuming sick animals, you’re going to get sick too. 

If you’re wondering why organic, grass-fed and finished meat or wild-caught fish is so much more expensive, this is why. It’s because the alternative, of getting meat from these CAFO’s, is much less expensive, than getting meat from local farmers who feed the animals their natural diet, give them free range, and overall lead much more natural lives than just fattening them up in any way possible and raising them for slaughter (which also produces extremely unhealthy animals, which leads to unhealthy humans ridden with disease as well). If the subjects of those studies had been consuming organic, grass-fed and finished, wild-caught animal products for those studies, we may have a totally different conversation on our hands about the healthiness of eating animal products in the human diet. 

So you may think the logical option is, why don’t we just stop eating meat? Well, if the whole world did that, it would definitely make a difference because supply and demand would go down. But, first off, that’s not going to happen any time soon. And from a physiological standpoint, humans were never herbivores – we were designed to eat meat at some point. From a nutrient standpoint, there are certain nutrients that you can only get *in their most bioavailable form* (most easily absorbed and assimilated by the body) from animal products. Sure, you can definitely design a complete, nutrient-dense vegetarian or vegan diet, but they have to use supplements in order to prevent nutrient deficiency.

The good news is, you don’t have to eat a ton of animal protein in order to get all the vitamins and nutrients you can from animal products. And the even better news is, if you choose to upgrade the animal proteins you do consume, like grass-fed and finished meat, pasture-raised poultry or wild-caught fish, they are actually higher in nutrients like CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), vitamin K, vitamin A, and aren’t ridden with antibiotics given to sick animals to keep them alive and fat under unnatural and unethical living conditions. Bonus points if you can support local or small farmers along the way.

So you realize you want to start paying more attention to where your animal protein comes from. But maybe it’s really expensive by you, or you don’t even know where to start, or you don’t want to commit to an every month meat delivery to your door (I was all of the above). Maybe you don’t want to get a pre-selected box of meat, chicken, and pork, and you want to choose your own (like me!) – I get you!

There are a ton of subscription boxes out there to choose from – Butcher Box, Moink, Hungryroot, the list goes on. I recommend you check out a few of them, see which have some deals, and try one out! Or, buy when stuff is on sale at the grocery store. Check your local farmers’ markets too. 

Sheet Pan Everything Bagel Salmon

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

35 mins

Total time

50 mins

 

Dana: Real Food with Dana

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 - 1.5 lbs wild-caught salmon
• 1 lb mixed baby potatoes
• 1 head broccoli
• 1 lemon, sliced into rings
• ¼ cup everything bagel seasoning
• 3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• ¼ tsp fresh ground black pepper pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Cut the broccoli into large florets and the potatoes into quarters.
3. Toss the potatoes and broccoli a large bowl in 2 Tbsp olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
4. Add the potatoes and broccoli to the baking sheet and pop it in the oven for 20 minutes.
5. Meanwhile, prepare the salmon. Cut it into four equal pieces (about 4-6oz each) and drizzle 1 Tbsp of olive oil over all the pieces. Coat the pieces with everything bagel seasoning on all sides except the skin.
6. When the timer goes off, nestle the salmon in with the potatoes and broccoli on the baking sheet. Place the lemon slices evenly around the sheet.
7. Pop it in the oven and bake for an additional 15 until the salmon is cooked through. With bigger pieces it may need a little bit longer, but pull the sheet out after 15 minutes to test if it's done. No one wants overcooked salmon!

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