Showstopper Hot Smoked Salmon Salad
With this salad, you can stretch out the flavour of the smoked salmon into a really hearty salad that hits all the right flavour notes.
Ingredients
250g Hot Smoked Salmon, skin removed.
Leafy Greens, Shredded
Pomegranate, seeds and pith separated
50g (or more if affordable) Macadamias, roughly chopped
~ A dozen asparagus spears
1 Avocado
Optional: Herb Flowers - I had parsley flowers which are really fragrant, but this works for sage flowers, rosemary flowers coriander flowers too, if you've got a plant that's gone to seed. No worries if not, sub it out for a herb of your choice, in this case coriander is a good option - if so, the amount you'll need is a good handful of fresh coriander leaves. Other options: Tarragon, Flat Leaf Parsley, Sage. (Rosemary is a bit too woody/meaty for this, in my opinion)
For the Dressing
1 Part Lime Juice (25ml)
3 Parts EVOO or Cold-Pressed Rapeseed Oil (75ml)
1 Tsp Caster Sugar
1 Tbsp Wholegrain Mustard
1 Tsp Salt
Method:
The only prep required here is the asparagus, avocado and dressing.
For the asparagus, peel the skin on the woody (cut) end of the asparagus spears (about 4-5cm worth). Roughly chop, into pieces about 5cm long, and put in a bowl. Cover with boiling water, and let them sit until the water is just warm. Strain and set aside.
For the avocado: if you plan on doing the plating in the picture, get your ripe avocado, half. Carefully peel back the skin as to leave the flesh smooth. Slice thin slices (about 1mm thick) across the avocado, (widthways), being careful to leave each slice where it is on the chopping board. Once you've reached the end, gently press and fan out the avocado slices into a staggered line, then carefully curl the standing avocado at both ends so it forms an infinity symbol.
If you're not plating it as per above, just roughly chop the avocado.
For the dressing, put all the ingredients in a jam jar or plastic, lidded container, and shake until its basically homogenous, and the sugar and salt have dissolved. Give it a taste. The flavour you're looking for is tangy, slightly sweet and salty with slight spiciness from the mustard.
Assemble the salad as above, with the salad greens underneath, and the other ingredients spread out semi randomly around the dish, with the salmon in the middle, or, break up the salmon, shred the greens and mix it all together.
Pour over/mix in the dressing right before serving, or else the salad greens will go limp.
Enjoy!
Substitutions:
Hot Smoked Salmon: Smoked Trout, Smoked Carp (ugh)
Macadamias: Walnuts, Almonds, Brazil Nuts, Hazelnuts
Pomegranate: Raspberries, Cloudberries, Boysenberries, Blackberries, Blueberries, Oranges, Mandarins, Grapefruit
Wholegrain Mustard: Dijon, American, A small amount of British Spicy Mustard (be careful if you choose this option)
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