Easter Special – Salmon, Quail Egg and Spinach Salad served with a drizzle of Walnut Pesto

An egggcellent salad for lunch in the sun on Easter Sunday.

Nutritional goodness
A protein packed lunch made with vitamin B rich quail eggs and omega-3 filled salmon. Quail eggs are a great source of choline, the precursor to acetylcholine, the neurotransmitter involved in memory. 

Make your own
Serves 2
For the salad:
1 salmon fillet (preferably wild Alaskan salmon)
10 quail eggs
100g spinach
Juice of 1 lemon

For the walnut pesto:
½ cup walnuts
2 cups fresh basil
2 cloves garlic
¼ - ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp lemon juice
Himalayan/sea salt to taste
½ tsp black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Season the salmon with pepper and place it skin side down on a non-stick baking tray, add the juice of half a lemon and bake until the salmon is cooked through (~15 minutes).
3. For the pesto; combine the basil, walnuts and garlic in a food processor to form a course mixture. Add the lemon juice, then whilst pulsing slowly add the olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. 
4. Bring a pot of water to the boil, add the quail eggs and cook for 2 ½ minutes, remove and place the eggs in iced water to prevent them from cooking further. 
5. Peel the quail eggs and half them to expose the yolks.
6. Roughly break up the cooked salmon.
7. Rinse the spinach, flake the salmon and assemble along with the eggs into a serving bowl.
8. Dress with the homemade pesto.
   

* The flavour of the pesto will develop further if left in the fridge for an hour before serving.