19 Healthy 30-Minute Salmon Recipes

The white worms we occasionally spot in salmon fillets are parasites called roundworms. Though these worms are more noticeable in salmon due to the contrast in color, they can be found in many white fish too — they’re just camouflaged.

But we shouldn’t be freaking out.

Despite the fact that our knee-jerk reaction is to panic and consider things contaminated, roundworms are as natural to fish as insects are to fruits and veggies. A teeny white worm in your salmon is the equivalent to an aphid, thrip, or mite in your recently harvested greens. Yes, it’s still yucky AF, but totally natural.

The good news is that roundworms don’t pose health risks when fish is thoroughly cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the FDA’s recommendation. When it comes to lightly preserved or raw fish — like sushi, sashimi, ceviche, or gravlax — as long as the product was commercially frozen to an internal temperature of -4 degrees Fahrenheit for at least seven days prior to preparation, parasites are terminated. (High five, fellow sushi lovers!)

Just be sure to avoid sketchy sushi joints; when you hear about people getting sick from eating at low-profile all-you-can-eat sushi spot, it’s because they aren’t handling their fish properly.

It is believed by some that wild-caught fish are more susceptible to roundworms due to the fact that they interact with an external ecosystem, while farmed fish are segregated from the wild and are fed pellets treated for parasites. This isn’t something *we* can confirm, but it’s food for thought nonetheless.

If you really want to feast on fish but paranoia has now gotten the best of you, there is an at-home method you can try: fish candling. This method has you place a bright light beneath a fillet of fish so you can see the shadows of any worms present. You can then grab some tweezers and remove, then discard of the worms yourself. (This method obviously isn’t for the faint of heart.)

We say, thoroughly cook your fish and pretend worms never happened!

Instant Pot Salmon Dinner

Salmon, sweet potatoes, and broccoli all can be steamed together in 3 minutes via the wonders of the Instant Pot. (via Brit + Co)

Instant Pot Steamed Cod With Ginger Scallion Sauce

This Chinese dish can be on your table in roughly 30 minutes. From a frozen state, fish only takes 5 minutes to pressure-cook. Serve it with cauliflower rice instead of jasmine rice to load up on the veggies. (via Brit + Co)

One-Pot Roasted Salmon Niçoise

A lunchtime salad gets the warm dinner treatment with this one-pot meal, complete with pesto-laden salmon and lots of veggies. (via Brit + Co)

Shrimp-Stuffed Avocados

On a sweltering evening, you’ll be so glad you have this recipe up your sleeve. (via Brit + Co)

Sheet-Pan Shrimp Fajitas

You can use any vegetables in this one-pan recipe, but we think peppers and onions go flawlessly with this roasted shrimp in tacos, salads, and bowls. (via Brit + Co)

Brown Butter Salmon With Capers and Tomatoes

These 15-minute fillets prove that a pescatarian diet is anything but pesky. (via Brit + Co)

Halibut en Papillote

This dinner exemplifies how all parchment-paper-baked fish should be. Halibut is smothered in sweet coconut aminos, lemon, scallion, and mushrooms. (via Brit + Co)

Walnut-Crusted Salmon

When you coat salmon in a succulent walnut crust, it sings. Serve it alongside some simple roasted Brussels sprouts. (via Brit + Co)

Salmon Avocado Salad

Filled to the brim with juicy cucumber and grapefruit, crisp red onion, and rich avocado, this salmon salad is what pescatarian dreams are made of. Scoop it onto butter lettuce leaves or cabbage for a complete meal. (via Brit + Co)

Shrimp Pasta With Lemon and Spinach

If the words easy and refreshing appeal to you, don’t miss out on this nourishing dish. (via Brit + Co)

Pan-Seared Fish

What do you do when hit with an intense fish craving? You pan-sear fish with a lemon-garlic-caper sauce. Toss some delicate greens like baby kale in the same pan for a complete dinner. (via Brit + Co)

Steamed Bass Foil Packet Dinner

If you’re hosting someone special and looking to impress, look no further than these tender white fish fillets, nuzzled into a bright and flavorful herbed butter with broccoli, squash, and mushrooms. (via Brit + Co)

Grilled Harissa Shrimp With Chickpea Tomato Sauce

Grilled Harissa Shrimp with Chickpea Tomato Sauce

This colorful dinner is a weeknight essential: it’s balanced, delicious, and ready in roughly 30 minutes. (via Brit + Co)

Salmon Skewers

We’re very open to eating fish skewers on a nightly basis, especially when they are nestled alongside peppers and zucchini. (via Brit + Co)

Salmon Burgers

Warm up with this comforting salmon burger. It shines with many vegetable toppings like sprouts, sliced radish, avocado, and roasted tomatoes. Go bunless by placing the patty in between butter lettuce. (via Brit + Co)

Mango Curry Shrimp

This tastes just like a curry you’ll find at your favorite Thai restaurant. Serve it with cauliflower rice over jasmine rice to make it more veg-heavy. (via Brit + Co)

Baked Almond-Crusted Cod

This meal, plated with a healthy side of steamed green beans, can be yours in 20 minutes or less. (via Brit + Co)

Dishwasher-Cooked Lobster with Brussel Sprouts and Potatoes

You'll forget you're eating a pescatarian recipe cooked in a dishwasher (really!) when you bite into this succulent lobster tail, seasoned with a butter sauce and served with tender vegetables and potatoes. (via Brit + Co)

Creamy Pesto Pasta with Smoked Salmon

Have leftover smoked salmon? Toss it with spaghetti, peas, asparagus, and mascarpone cheese for a delightful spring supper. (via Brit + Co)

Easy One-Skillet Creamy Tuscan Salmon

There's so many ways to spice up pescatarian recipes that we love discovering — like this one-skillet creamy tuscan salmon. It combines all of our favorite flavors, but has a seafood twist that's healthier. (via The Real Food Dietitians)

Easiest Skillet Shrimp Fajitas

We'll take two plates of this easy skillet shrimp fajita meal! In just 30 minutes, you and your family will be tasting the flavors of lime, garlic, bell peppers and well-seasoned shrimp! (via The Girl on Bloor)

Keiko Agena has a complicated relationship with 'Gilmore Girls' character Lane Kim.

“I think what [the role] was for people was different than what it was for me,” she tells Juliet Litman on an episode of the Dear Felicity rewatch podcast (via People). “In a weird way, I feel like I want to honor the experience that people had from the show, and what it meant to them, especially young Asian people, because I get that comment a lot, about what it was like for them to see someone like that on screen.”

And it's no surprise that as much as Gilmore Girls viewers love Lane, Keiko "[loves] her too. I can tell, when I meet someone who knows Gilmore Girls or who loves Lane, it's like, I recognize that love. I see that you love that person."

But it's possible to hold two conflicting emotions at the same time, and although Lane Kim was an incredibly special role at the time, there are some things Keiko would do differently today. “The best thing is to have a Korean American writer [and a] Korean American actor,” she says. “I don't think that that role, cast that way, would happen today. But at that time, in 2000, it was such a different time that I definitely know I wouldn't have said no or pulled myself out of that situation at that time...Now it's just a mix of just having gratitude for having gone through that experience and having that experience.”

Keiko Agena also keeps in touch with two very special 'Gilmore Girls' costars!

And one aspect of Gilmore Girls that Keiko Agena is thankful for is her relationship with the Gilmore Girls cast! And there are two costars in particular she frequently keeps in contact with: John Cabrera (who played Brian) and Sean Gunn (who starred as Kirk).

“There is this kind of lovely nostalgia for that time, and yet also we have years since then,” she says. “I [have] gone to both of their weddings. Our friendship is part Gilmore Girls and appreciation for that crazy time, and then part just like a million other things that are just like friends.”

I was totally surprised to learn she keeps in contact with John and Sean (supposedly) more regularly than Alexis Bledel, but it makes sense when you remember Keiko, John, and Sean are all around the same age — and Alexis is 7 years younger. Hopefully we get another Gilmore Girls reunion to see our favorite television BFF's reunite!