Salmon with prosciutto and rice peel-over

Rice pilaf is an ancient dish and cooked and consumed in its various across northern Africa and the Middle East to India. Indeed, according to Wikipedia:

The English term pilaf is borrowed directly from Turkish, which in turn comes from (Classical) Persian
پلو, Urdu pulao (پلاؤ) and Hindi pulav, and ultimately derives from Sanskrit pulaka^[2]. Depending on the local cuisine, it may also contain a variety of meat and vegetables.

The American English term "peel-over" comes from her Imperial Majesty Junior and her name for any rice dish I create that has other stuff in it.

And that's all rice pilaf is—rice with other stuff in it. And it makes a marvelous side dish to almost anything. Here' I paired it with an old favorite, salmon with prosciutto.

Ingredients

Salmon

• 1 pound Salmon filets
  
• Thinly slice prosciutto, enough to wrap each filet
  
• Olive oil to coat the fish
  

Pilaf

• ½ cup white rice
  
• ½ cup red and green lentils, soaked for two hours
  
• ½ cup meripoix (diced carrots, onions and celery, available prepackaged at better groceries)
  
• 2 ½ cups chicken stock (low sodium is fine)
  
• 1 cup of spinach, roughly chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon of rosemary, roughly chopped
  
• Olive oil for sauté
  
• A pinch of salt
  

Technique

Salmon – roast in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

Pilaf – In a two quart pan, sauté the meripoix in the olive oil for about 3 minutes, adding a pinch of salt. Next, add the rice and sauté for another three minutes. Next, add the lentils and 2 cups of the chicken stock. Simmer for about 25 minutes or until fork tender. Remove from the heat and add the spinach, the rosemary and bit more chicken stock. Keep the dish covered as the residual heat will wilt the spinach, about three minutes.

Plate and serve.

Das Kinder loved it so much, there were no leftovers. And it's a whole lot healthier than French fries. I just hope she remembers this when it's time for her to pick out my rest home.