I’m always on a mission to try and eat more fish. While it can be tricky to get good quality fresh fish where I live, smoked fish is much easier to find. In the video I’ve used hot smoked salmon but any smoked fish will do. In fact my favourite fish for this dish is smoked rainbow trout. And big note, I forgot to add the almonds in the video and photo but this salad is much nicer with them!
Warm Smoked Fish Salad
Ingredients
- 300-400 g smoked trout / salmon or other smoked fish
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 bag salad leaves
- handful sliced almonds optional
Instructions
- Heat a frying pan on a medium high heat. If your fish isn’t very oily add a little oil but I usually don’t. Add the fish and pan fry until just warmed through. Around 2-3 minutes on each side.
- While the fish is cooking, make the salad. Whisk together lemon juice and 2 tablespoons olive oil in the bottom of a medium salad bowl. Season well. Toss in the salad leaves.
- When the fish is cooked add almonds to the pan to warm through and lightly toast.
- To serve, divide the salad between two plates. Top with fish and almonds.
Variations
vegetarian – replace fish with fried eggs or pan fried halloumi cheese.
vegan – replace fish with mushrooms fried in some olive oil. Or try sliced smoked tofu.
carnivore – replace fish with pork, steak, smoked chicken or lamb chops or make a steak and salad instead.
more substantial / carb lovers – lots of options here…toss in cooked pasta, cooked brown rice or cooked quinoa with the salad leaves. You could also increase the amount of fish. Or serve with crusty bread and butter on the side. Or even serve with boiled or roast potatoes.
more substantial (low carb) – add some roast macadamias and mayo.
more veg – toss in chopped raw salad veg like cucumber, sprouts, snow peas, cherry tomatoes and/or carrot.
nut-free – just skip the almonds.
fresh fish – just pan fry fresh fish fillets in a little oil. Allow an extra few minutes to cook through.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
smoked trout / salmon – freeze it.
lemon – whole lemon will keep wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge for months.
salad leaves – are highly perishable. My first path would be to use them for another meal (salad for breakfast!) but if that isn’t possible you can pop them in the freezer. They will wilt down but can then be used anywhere you’d use wilted greens. At least this way they wont go slimey.
sliced almonds – keep them in the pantry.
Problem Solving Guide
too dry – serve with lemon halves. Or drizzle over a little more oil. Next time try a different brand or type of smoked fish. A dollop of mayo will also help.
too salty – smoked fish can be pretty salty. Next time use a different brand or soak fish in water for 1/2 hour before cooking. Remember to drain well and pat dry before cooking.
Serving Suggestions
Great on it’s own as a light dinner. Or see the more substantial variations above.
Prepare Ahead
No!
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Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
Really enjoyed this. So easy to prepare and still very very tasty!
Fantastic Sonja!
Hey Jules,
Okay, I made this dinner tonight, 1st one of the program. Okay, here is what happened. I did make modifications due to creative desire, and not paying attention to your video. Okay so for the salad ..
1 table of lemon … check
Pinch of salt … I put that on the fish actually, explain that later
One table spoon of olive oil … I used two 🙁 but in the end it helped make good base for dressing mix … However, I added a few items…
1 table spoon of Cinnamon,
1 table spoon of Turmeric,
I table spoon of Dijon Mustard .. then mixed up. Gave the dressing a good taste.
Then I added my kale leaves mix, cherry size tomatoes, and sprouts … why ?
Well the salad looked kind of bland on the video. I was in the grocery store, and all those items were right next to each other on the shelf, washed and ready to serve… so why not is what I said … LOL …. okay salad is done.
The fish needed to be cooked. I have a caste iron skillet, 8 inches in diameter. I found some wild caught Alaskan fish (not the smoked salmon in the video). Then replaying your video when you cooked the fish you stated …
“The fish has not only been CURED but also cooked …”
I watched this video about 7 times, and never caught those words till now. What is CURED Fish ?
I did a quick google search on CURED. I found bunch of options on how to “CURE” raw fish. I went with the simple “add a little salt, and pepper to both sides, and then add to pan or bake. So I added a little salt and pepper to both side, and then put it into my skillet. I added 4 tablespoons of olive oil to try and keep the fish from sticking to the cast iron skillet. That did not work. So I added 4 more, and created sort of a pool in the skillet.
I added raw whole almonds … I know the recipe stated sliced almonds, but I bought the wrong almonds.
I added the almonds to the fish, and cooked them both together. Fish turned from dark red to light pink. I cook it 4 minutes on one side, and 4 minutes on the other side. Could not keep the fish from sticking to the pan.
Anyway, after cooking the fish in the pan about 8 minutes, parts of the fish was crispy. I put it all into the salad and ate.
Man it was good !!!! That was a good salad. Fish was cooked through, and the almonds definitely added a crunch to the salad. The dressing I made tasted good as well. Mustard with cinnamon and turmeric is not bad.
Total time for prep and cooking was 30 minutes. Then spent another 15 min hand washing the caste iron skillet in water, utensils and forks, and wiping counter down.
45 minutes total time.
I had the heat up high initially when cooking the fish, but after it started popping on me, I turned it down to medium. So that was my first try at cooking, and eating a meal. It was good, and smelled good. I am glad I did not burn anything.