Salmon Salad Recipe

let's all pretend that it's no big deal to give up pasta.

I made a decision last weekend that in order to feel remotely comfortable putting on a bathing suit for the last (and first) time in NYC this summer I would have to cut out all delicious things for a week until Labor Day. This was a silly decision, made on a whim, and I didn't even make it a whole week. But none-the-less, I did get to try out a new great recipe that was tasty and healthy :-)

I've read about countless spice rubs before and always seem to opt for a wet marinade but I figured that most marinades would add unnecessary sugar. Instead I toasted some spices and ground them in my lovely (but often unused) mortar and pestle. 

My Spice Blend included:

• Chinese Five Spice Powder
• Fennel Seed
• Black Sesame Seeds
• Sea Salt
• Crushed Red Pepper 
• Dried Shallot

With a tablespoon of olive oil I rubbed the spices into the salmon and let it rest in the fridge for about an hour. Right before I was ready to sear it, I chopped a few peppers and tomatoes and made a quick salad dressing.

  


Dressing: (all approximate measurements here)

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
1/4 cup Rice Vinegar
2 Tablespoon Chinkiang Black Vinegar
1 teaspoon honey
sea salt and fresh ground black papper, to taste


and voilà

Dinner!

quick salmon for two

Last night I stopped at the grocery store - exhausted after getting out of work late. It was much too cold to venture out to a restaurant so I had to choose something simple yet tasty. I already had a great beet soup ready to go in the fridge (care of my mother) so I decided to go with salmon - quick, easy, and delicious.

(I picked a fillet that came in just under a pound - to share with my boyfriend.)  

I had read in Food and Wine magazine this month about a great Salmon dry rub but I was in too much of a hurry to look up the recipe (usually not wise) so I tried recreating it from memory. 

First I set the rice to steam, as that takes about half an hour, and I turned my oven on to 350 degrees F. 

I toasted some spices, about a tablespoon of each:

Fennel seeds

Whole Black Pepper 

Red Pepper flakes

When they were golden and fragrant I moved them to my mortar + pestle and ground them to a coarse powder along with a teaspoon of each of the following:

kosher salt

garlic powder

ground cumin

I then rubbed the spice mix into the salmon - both sides - wrapped it in plastic wrap and stuck it in the fridge for 10 minutes. 

When the rice was almost finished I put the soup on the stove to heat up. After unwrapping the salmon I rubbed it with about 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and pan fried each side to make a nice crispy crust. Next I transferred it to a rimmed baking sheet and into the oven it went for 7 or 8 minutes - until just flaking. 

(use a rack towards the upper third of the oven) 

Everything should finish at about the same time - making this a perfect dinner when you're in a hurry - or just don't feel like slaving in the kitchen for hours :-)

All in all it was a great dinner! I still had enough energy afterwards to mix us up some cocktails and boyfriend  loved it which is always a score in  my book!!