Mediterranean Salmon Salad

I had my neighbours over for dinner the other night wtih Mediterranean Salmon with Cheesy Herb Risoni and we had one piece left over. I was so glad no one else grabbed it because I had my eye on it for lunch the following day.

I didn’t want to over complicate things. The John West salmon had already been marinated in a delicious garlic, tomato and bell pepper (capsicum) sauce. I cut the salmon into bite sized pieces and tossed through some baby spinach leaves, stuffed olives, cherry tomatoes, char grilled capscium and eggplant and topped with some shaved parmesan. A simple dressing of balsamic vinegar, garlic and olive oil and that was lunch. I savoured every mouthful. Sometimes the simple things in life are the best.

 

 

 



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Mediterranean Salmon with Cheesy Herb Risoni

Never one to knock back the offer of free food, I’ve been lucky enough to have been selected to try the new range of John West seafood, found in the chiller section of the supermarket along with my favourite, Gourmet Garden herbs in a tube. The arrival of the seafood at this extremely busy time couldn’t have been better. Dinner is a breeze to put together with this wonderful range.

I can’t even remember what I’d been doing all day. Life has been so stressful lately but all I knew was that I promised a friend I’d cook her one of John West’s new varieties of salmon. By the time I got the kids home, removed the plastic film from the packet of salmon, covered with a piece of alfoil (instructions didn’t state this but I wanted to keep the salmon really moist), put water on to boil for the risoni, sorted the kids out, dinner was practically done. I had some baby Roma truss tomatoes in the fridge and I just popped them in the oven about 10 mins before the salmon was cooked. The taste of the salmon was delicious with a hint of basil, garlic and bell peppers (capsicum). Saves having to worry about glazes or marinades.

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I got some inspiration from the What2Cook web site. They cooked the Mediterranean Oven Bake salmon with a creamy mash and a selection of vegetables. Using what I had, I decided on risoni (orzo) which is a small pasta grain and stirred through some grated parmesan and 2 tablespoons of Gourmet Garden Mediterranean seasoning. I served that with the roasted truss tomatoes. My friend said it was delicious and a great way to serve salmon. She thought I was pretty fantastic for ‘going to all this trouble’ but I just said “it was nothing, really”. (And it really wasn’t.)

 

 

If I’d taken the salmon out of the oven safe container and cooked in the microwave for a couple minutes I would’ve had dinner on the table in record time. It could’ve been done, I’m sure of it. Maybe next time. This one packet of salmon could’ve easily fed four adults. Stay tuned for some more recipes from the John West range available from the chiller section of the supermarket. I’ve got company coming for Christmas drinks and I’ll have some quick, easy and tasty ideas for canapes.

 

Mediterranean Salmon with Cheesy Herb Risoni

• 1 packet of John West Mediterranean Salmon
• 1/2 cup risoni (or rice or pasta or 2 servings of mashed potato)
• baby Roma egg tomatoes, roasted with a drizzle of olive oil and salt
• 2 tablespoons of Gourmet Garden Mediterranean seasoning
• 2 tablespoons finely grated parmesan cheese

1. Follow instructions on packet to cook salmon. (I covered pan with alfoil to keep salmon moist.)
2. Boil risoni (or pasta, rice etc). Once drained well, stir through parmesan cheese and Gourmet Garden Mediterranean seasoning.
3. Add tomatoes to the oven approx 10 mins before end of salmon cooking time.
4. Serve salmon on top of risoni and spoon over any remaining sauce.

 



Disclaimer:  This is a sponsored post. I received food products and a gift card. All thoughts and ideas are my own. 

One salmon portion, four ways

I love salmon. I love the flavour, the colour, the smell. Unfortunately, it can be quite expensive and out of reach for most people’s weekly shopping lists. At nearly $30 per kilo, that’s very expensvie, but you can stretch one portion out which will cost you about $10. Spread out over a couple meals, that works out to be quite reasonable.

These are all individual meals but one portion could quite easily feed 2 adults in one meal. According to the Better Health Channel, the average female needs about .75g/kg of protein per day and the average male about .84g/kg per day. For example, a 75kg adult male would need about 63g of protein per day. On average those large pieces of salmon fillet are about 200-300g so would contain approximately 30gm of protein, quite easily enough protein allowance in one sitting for two adults and 2 children. It might not seem like much meat in the dish but it actually is.

I cut the fillet down the centre giving four portions. The two larger portions I kept aside for other meals. The two smaller ‘end’ pieces were used for my lunch. One of the halves of the large pieces I cut I used for the children’s dinner that night just pan frying small pieces and serving with vegies.

For my first meal, I diced the salmon and quickly fried in a little butter, lemon juice, seasoned with salt and pepper and made a Salmon and Cucumber salad (lettuce leaves and sliced cucumber) with Yoghurt Dill dresssing (Greek yoghurt, lemon juice, garlic, dill).

Warm Salmon Salad with Cucumber and a Yoghurt Dill dressing

One of the fillets I set aside earlier, I cut in half horizontally and made a Honey Chilli glazed Salmon Fillet served on a bed of Asian noodle salad. This was just a teaspoon of honey and chilli mixed together and spread on the salmon once cooked. The noodles were just the 2 minute noodles mixed through some grated carrot, shredded red cabbage and green onions with soy sauce and sweet chilli sauce poured over.

The last piece of salmon I had for dinner the next night and I served that up with pasta, fresh asparagus and a yoghurt cream sauce. I didn’t get a picture of it but this was an asparagus pasta dish I cooked some time ago but just never got around to blogging about it. It was basically steamed asparagus mixed with the lightly pan fried chopped salmon, crushed garlic, salt and pepper and stir through cooked pasta. Add a good dollop of Greek yoghurt which acts as the sauce to bind it all together.

Just imagine pieces of salmon poking out through the pasta

You don’t need to eat salmon for the next 2 days but you could cut the salmon up and freeze individually.

So, out of one $11 piece of salmon, I got four dishes.

1.  Salmon & Cucumber Salad with Yoghurt Dill Dressing
2.  Honey & Chilli glazed Salmon served on a bed of stir fried vegies and noodles
3.  Cubed Salmon and vegies for the kids
4.  Salmon and Fresh Asparagus Pasta in creamy yoghurt sauce

For 2 adults you could get either 2 serves of the honey & chilli glazed salmon and one serve of the cubed salmon and vegies for the kids or a large serve of the Salmon and Asparagus Pasta for a family of four. Whichever way, fresh salmon fillets might be an affordable luxury for everyone.

Salmon Patties with a quick tartare sauce

On those days when you’ve realised, at 4:30pm, that you haven’t defrosted any meat for dinner, I always go looking in the pantry for inspiration. I always have a can of tuna in brine and pink or red salmon in the pantry for moments like these. I grabbed the canned salmon, checked we had enough potatoes and made salmon patties. I served it with a very simple salad of lettuce and tomato and a quick tartare sauce that I make.

Salmon Patties with Quick Tartare Sauce

large can of pink or red salmon, bones and skin removed
3 medium potatoes, peeled, chopped, boiled and mashed
1 egg, beaten
1 tbs lemon juice (and/or 1 tsp grated lemon rind, optional)
1 tsp dried dill
1 small onion, grated or chopped very finely
Panko or other dried breadcrumbs
oil for shallow frying

Quick Tartare Sauce:
1/2 cup whole egg mayonnaise
1 tbs gherkin relish
1 tbs lemon juice
pepper

1. Mix flaked fish and mashed potato.
2. Add beaten egg, dill and onion.
3. Form into patties and roll in breadcrumbs. (If you have the time, refrigerate for 30 minutes before frying.) I make teeny little nuggets for the kids.
4. Fry patties in oil until golden and drain thoroughly.
5. For tartare sauce, mix all ingredients and serve with patties.

Note: I have made these patties with tuna and swapped the potato for sweet potato for both types of fish. These patties also make a good fish burger, piled high with salad between a bun.