So I had a bunch of ingredients left over from the salad I made earlier this week. It’s still no-cooking kind of weather, so I wanted to make another salad that could be served cool, but I didn’t want to make the same one – come on, where would be in the fun in that? One of my favorite activities in the kitchen is using leftover ingredients as inspiration for an entirely new dish. I know, I’m a nerd…
The first thing I considered was the fresh dill. Fresh dill makes me think of two things: Tzatziki sauce and salmon. Now I can already hear your chiding, unamused thoughts: how does the starving artist afford smoked salmon? It’s quite simple – I paid a visit to my dear friend Trader Joe. He sells a wonderful Sockeye Salmon in a two-serving pouch for only $4.99. Though I didn’t want or need to make tzatziki, I did have cucumbers in my fridge. One of my favorite combinations is smoked salmon and cream cheese (on a bagel), but I can’t very well toss a salad with cream cheese and retain any kind of self respect. Instead I felt like Greek yogurt would be a good substitute. It gives that same creaminess as cream cheese but with far more nutritional value. Besides, what a perfect match for cucumber and dill. Here’s the full list:
- 1/2 large cucumber, diced finely
- 1 cup of cooked and shelled edamame
- 2 very thin slices of red onion
- 2 tbsp fresh chopped dill
- 2 scoops of Greek yogurt
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 4 oz smoked salmon
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
Basically I tossed together the cucumber, edamame, onion, and dill, seasoned liberally with salt and pepper. Then I tossed in the yogurt, olive oil, and lemon, and stirred it to combine. Fold in your salmon at the end and voila. A gorgeous and satisfying summer salad.
Now if you happen to be on a pay day (or if you’re not a starving artist), using a fresh grilled filet of salmon would be outstanding. I also thought that topping it with some salmon roe would be really elegant, but let’s not kid ourselves, I will not be in possession of salmon roe for quite some time.
Happy Friday!