Sunday, October 21, 2012

Smoked Salmon, Green Beans and Cabbage Salad

The Blog's back, with a few changes. A new title and a new focus. But before I start in with the long harangues about organic food and my hippie-ass lifestyle I thought I'd share a new recipe of mine.

I tend to try and pack as many ingredients as possible into my dishes and for that reason salads are something I make a lot (sometimes even when I'm not trying to). On the fly salads don't always turn out that great, whether or not Stew will help me with the leftovers is usually a good indicator of my level of success, but every once in a while a delicious new combination is born.  I threw one together yesterday to take to a family dinner and it turned out to be one such gem. It is pretty simple and stars one of our household favorites, smoked salmon.
Smoked salmon is great for a lot of reasons, it is high in protein and omega fatty acids and you only need a little to lend that smoky, fishy deliciousness to a dish. Chop it up and toss in it with some veggies, pasta, any grain and maybe throw in a little creaminess and you've got a meal to die for.


Smoked Salmon, Green Beans and Red Cabbage Salad

Red Cabbage, half head
Green Beans, 1/2 lb.
Smoked Salmon, 3/4 lb. or so
Walnuts, handfull whole or chopped

Sauce:
8 oz. Sour Cream (dairy or none, I use Tofuti)
3 Tbl. Olive oil
1 tsp. Lemon juice
1tsp. White or rice vinegar
1/2 tsp. Sugar
1/2 tsp. Cheyenne powder
To taste: Start at a Tbl. each and work your way from there.
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Basil, dried
Dill, dried
Taragon, dried
Salt
Pepper


Chop cabbage into bite size strips, beans into bite size pieces, and same with salmon (no skin). The beans will need to be blanched which is done by boiling them in water for about 5 minutes (or until tender, not soft) then transferring them to ice water for an equal amount of time. The rest, including walnuts can go straight in the bowl.

Sauce is easy enough, mix all ingredients together and adjust amounts to taste. Keep in mind that when using dried seasonings that their flavor will be stronger after ten minutes or so of sitting in the wet ingredients. If you're unsure of your sauce flavor, let it sit a bit and then proceed.
*On a side note, this is basically ranch type dip. Make it thinner (more oil, juice, water or milk) and it's dressing. Want it more tangy? Use plain yogurt in place of sour cream. If you already own these seasonings, save yourself a little money and never buy ranch dressing or those little packets of ranch dip seasoning again. Anyway...

Mix it all together! This salad is best at room temp or a little colder.


Well, this is embarrassing! I had intended to post a picture of the leftovers of this salad but....I seem to have eaten it while typing this. Sorry, I'll just have to describe it 's appearance. It looks delicious!



-Jamy