Poached Salmon with Lemon Mint Tzatziki Sauce

Makes: 4 Servings

2 cups dry white wine
2 cups water
2 bay leaves
2 sprigs flat-leaf parsley
2 lemons, unpeeled, sliced
1 (2 lb) salmon fillet with skin
1 scallion, top only, thinly sliced
1 cup Lemon Mint Tzatziki Sauce (recipe below)

To make the salmon: [1] Put the wine, water, bay leaves, parsley, and 1 sliced lemon into a large, deep skillet; bring to a simmer. [2] Add salmon, skin-side down. (Add more water, if necessary, to cover the salmon.) Cover skillet and simmer over low heat until the fish is just cooked through, about 8 minutes. [3] Transfer fish to a plate, cover, and refrigerate until completely chilled, about 3 hours. [4] Peel skin from fillet and scrape away any brown flesh. [5] Serve fish over sautéed baby spinach and top with the scallion, remaining lemon slices, and Lemon Mint Tzatziki Sauce. Pair with a cup of cooked orzo.

Per serving:
532 calories, 61 g protein,
9 g carbs, 1 g fiber, 18 g fat

Ellie's Tip: The thing most guys don't like about fish is that it's dry or flavorless. To make yours more appealing, top it with this low-cal, easy-to-make sauce:

Makes: 1 Cup

1 cucumber
1 cup plain, nonfat yogurt, drained
1 tsp olive oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp lemon zest
1 tbsp chopped mint

To make the sauce:
Peel, seed, and grate the cucumber. Drain it well. In a medium bowl, stir together the yogurt and olive oil. Add the cucumber, lemon juice, garlic, zest, and mint leaves; mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and serve. For an even thicker sauce, line a strainer with a paper towel and put the strainer over a bowl. Put the yogurt in the strainer and place it in the refrigerator to drain and thicken for 3 hours.

The Health Benefits of This Recipe:

[A] In addition to providing all the amino acids your muscles need to grow, omega-3 fats in salmon help relieve the inflammation caused by intense workouts, allowing for faster muscle recovery.

[B] Yogurt is packed with active cultures that prevent bad breath and lower your chances for gum disease -- a leading cause of tooth loss as you get older. It's also a rich source of calcium, which is essential for keeping your pearly whites strong and healthy.

[C] Besides tasting great, the mint in the sauce is a potent source of menthol, which helps quell indigestion. As for the scallions and garlic, they supply disease-fighting compounds that have been shown to reduce your risk of heart disease and prostate cancer.

[D] Spinach doesn't just keep Popeye tough -- it also helps make your bones more resistant to fractures. The vitamin K in the greens activates the body's production of osteocalcin, a protein in bones that calcium locks on to, increasing their strength significantly.

[E] Sick of brown rice but desperate for some carbs? Try orzo. This small, rice-sized pasta supplies a hefty dose of long-lasting energy, plus tons of thiamin, a B vitamin useful for helping the body harness the nutrients present in everything else on your plate.