Category Archives: Salads

Smoked salmon salad

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It was  just hot enough this evening that I didn’t really want to cook–not all that hungry, but wanted something easy and light.  Rummaging in the pantry, I found that I had Chicken of the Sea wild-caught, smoked Pacific (Alaskan) salmon in the pouches, so I made a salad to have with some good crisp flatbread and fruit (melon and cherries) on the side.

Quantities are approximations–precise measurement is certainly not necessary to make something like this–use your judgement.

Ingredients: 

  • approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup sweet onion, diced
  • approximately 1/3 to 1/2 cup cucumber (seeded if needed), diced
  • two packages (6 ounces) smoked salmon slightly broken up into chunks
  • lemon juice to taste
  • lemon zest to taste (about 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon
  • drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil sufficient to moisten
  • fresh-ground black pepper to taste
  • salt to taste  (taste before adding any
Assembly:  combine all ingredients and mix gently.  Taste and adjust seasoning.
Variations:
  • replace extra-virgin olive oil with a dollop of sour cream and add chopped fresh dill
  • if you have leftover grilled or griddled salmon steak or fillet this is even better
  • if you are not using smoked salmon, a dash of chipotle chile powder gives a bit of smoky taste and zip
  • add minced green or red chile pepper (jalapeño, poblano or serrano) to taste.
There are all sorts of possible variations here…fix it to suit yourself.
A son goût!  

Cool pink things for summer

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After the wonderful strawberry ice cream yesterday afternoon, I more “cool pink” for supper: watermelon with feta cheese and mint.

It’s right up there with beet soup for a refreshing summer meal or side dish.  I probably should not even call it a salad:  no dressing or anything except the natural juices.  I’ve seen suggestions for dressings such as buttermilk/lime, but I’ve not tried that–have some buttermilk in the fridge so maybe I’ll taste it with that  when I make more this afternoon.

There really is no recipe for this:

  •  watermelon, cut into pieces or cut with  melon-baller.  Use however much you think you might eat–I usually add some extra  because I will usually eat more.
  • mint–preferably spearmint  (Kentucky Colonel is especially good), chopped medium or cut into chiffonade–several sprigs
  • feta cheese–your favorite feta cheese, cut into small cubes or crumbled.
Toss the watermelon and the mint and let this chill in the refrigerator for about an hour.  You want the mint and melon to “meld”–if you don’t do this, you get separate flavors of mint and melon (which is not bad either) instead of something like mintmelonmint.  After this melding, add the feta cheese, and eat!
If the melon stands with the feta cheese, the texture of the melon becomes a bit soggy, presumable from the salt in the feta cheese,  so it’s best made freshly.  You can let the mint/melon mix stand in the fridge longer, though.
I suspect that other salty cheese could be substituted for the feta–e.g. pecorino or some of the Greek cheeses.

Vinaigrette

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I think that seasoning is SO important when cooking for one–it can take that serving of veggies from sort of humdrum to great so easily. One of the easiest ways to “dress up” leftovers is to use a sauce with them on the second run.

I think that one of the easiest is a vinaigrette.  It’s so simple, holds well in the fridge. If you know a basic ratio (usually 3 parts oil to 1 part acid or if you prefer a less tart dressing 4 parts oil to 1 part acid) you can vary it easily.

A bit of mustard serves to aid the emulsification of the oil and acid.  The acid can be vinegar, or it can be lemon juice, lime juice, orange or grapefruit juice.  You can easily add different herbs, or garlic, onion, shallot, spices, or chives as an aromatic, depending on what you want:  with fish, lemon might be a good choice.

Stored in a small jar, covered, it will keep for approximately a week in the refrigerator, so it’s always handy.  This same vinaigrette is good to make a non-mayonnaise tuna or chicken salad.  Better and less expensive than store-bought salad dressing, and without additives and preservatives.