A colorful smoked salmon salad to herald spring! Smoked salmon and delicate lettuces are layered with thinly sliced fennel, radish, and red onion, and tossed with an assertive Dijon and horseradish vinaigrette.
February always marks a low point in my year. After Valentine’s, the rest of the month is blur of knobby root vegetables and cabin fever. To boot, this particular February was a busy one work-wise, and the lack of inspiration, long work hours, and sun-starved ennui all conspired to keep me away longer than I’d intended.
I’ve decided not to apologize about it – you maybe didn’t even notice – and just leave it with: I’m back and very glad to be here.
When I’m lacking in produce inspiration, in the dead of winter or otherwise, I turn to salads. Seasonally speaking, this smoked salmon salad is a tad premature – the growing season hasn’t started back up in the East – but I’m not above embracing the bounty of the California springtime, which apparently starts in January. I like smoked salmon, but find all that smoke and brine can overpower more fleeting flavors. To make sure my salmon salad would stand up, I layered paper thin slices of lemony red onion, fennel, and radish; red lettuce and watercress; and an assertive vinaigrette with grainy Dijon, horseradish, and a splash of sherry vinegar. And then, because it’s what I do, I spent far too long arranging the salad on a generous platter, tucking smoked salmon here and there, making sure each ingredient was placed just so.
Unless you’re in it for the Instagram likes, you could skip the fussing and toss everything together in a big bowl. Once tossed, the salad is best eaten immediately when each layer is distinct and crisp, and the lettuce has yet to wilt under all those lemon-soaked vegetables. If you need to make things ahead, prep each ingredient and toss in the moment.
No matter how it’s plated, save a few lemon wedges to squeeze over the salad just before you pick up your utensils.
A colorful smoked salmon salad to herald spring! Smoked salmon and delicate lettuces are layered with thinly sliced fennel, radish, and red onion, and tossed with an assertive Dijon and horseradish vinaigrette.
- 1/2 bulb fennel cored and cut into thin slices
- 1 bunch radishes sliced thin
- 1 3-inch watermelon radish, sliced thin
- 1/2 red onion sliced thin
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice from 2 lemons
- sea salt
- 1/2 head red leaf lettuce torn into bite-sized pieces
- 1 bunch watercress stems trimmed
- 4 ounces smoked salmon torn into bite-sized pieces
- 4 lemon wedges for serving
- 1 tablespoon finely minced red onion
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon grainy Dijon mustard
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
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Prep the vegetables. Place fennel in a medium bowl, and radishes and red onions in small bowls. Toss 2 tablespoon lemon juice and a pinch of sea salt to the fennel, and toss 1 tablespoon lemon juice and a pinch sea salt each to red onions and radishes. Set aside for 15 minutes.
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To make the vinaigrette, whisk to combine onion, lemon juice, horseradish, sherry vinegar, and sea salt. Set aside 5 minutes, then whisk mustard and olive oil. Taste and add sea salt as needed.
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To assemble salad, toss greens with a drizzle of vinaigrette and spread on a large platter. Drain fennel, radishes, and red onion, and layer with the greens. Tuck smoked salmon all over. Drizzle with several teaspoons dressing. Garnish with lemon wedges and serve immediately
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Ingredients can be prepped ahead and tossed together just before serving.
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