salmon salad

I went to the grocery store with a specific list of ingredients in my head for this salad.

Okay, I need salmon, potatoes, asparagus, and capers. For a salad Lyonnaise.

Later, I googled “salad lyonnaise” to check what the dressing is supposed to be for this salad. As it turns out, a salad lyonnaise is frisee with lardons and a poached egg. I should have known this because we made it in cooking class a few years back.

So then I thought- OH, silly me. It’s a nicoise salad.

Nope. I was a little closer this time- at least this one has potatoes in it. But also green beans, tomatoes, olives, and hard boiled eggs.

The moral of the story is I don’t know anything about how the French eat salad, but it doesn’t matter because this brain child salad of mine was delicious anyway.

Salmon Salad

2 salmon filets

mixed greens or other lettuce

1 lb asparagus

1 lb small potatoes (fingerling, or the ones I bought were called “nibblers”)

for the dressing

2 tbs Dijon mustard

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbs capers

salt and pepper

Place the potatoes in a pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. We just want to soften them up to make the roasting go faster.

Toss the potatoes and the asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper and spread on a baking sheet. Roast at 375 for 12-15 minutes until the asparagus is bright green and the potatoes are cooked but have a good bite to them.

Season the salmon with salt and pepper. I cooked each filet in a cast-iron skillet for 3-4 minutes per side until it was crispy and just barely cooked all the way through.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and season the greens. Add the dressing slowly- you just want the greens to be BARELY dressed because we’re putting a bunch of flavorful things on top.