(Leftover) Salmon-Avocado Salad 2

I have a friend who’s kids’ LOVE salmon. They cannot get enough of it, and because it is so stinking good for them and all, well, they eat it a lot. And I do mean a lot, but who can argue with that, really? Salmon = antioxidant fatty acid omega 3 goodness! The way she prepares it is delicious too, but kids being kids they like it that particular way……..which means: Every….Single…..Time. So. I decided to rescue some leftovers (and my friend) and we made the best “dinner” salad I think that I have ever had. Nestled onto a bed of quinoa that’s been tossed with sweet grape tomatoes, (available year round!) cilantro and a touch of crunchy red and green onion with a tangy lime based vinigrette, offset with creamy rich avocado slices, those leftovers just got a major do-over.

Here is what you need and what I did:

Hands on prep time for this is about ten minutes, with about fifteen minutes to cook the quinoa. You will end up with two really generous servings, feel free to adjust the proportions for what you need/like.

What is not pictured here is the Quinoa, as well as the olive oil and vinegar that was used. But you do want to begin by cooking the quinoa, because that is the foundation that this plate of deliciousness is built upon. Quinoa is my favorite and super simple to make, faster and miles healthier than rice. I have read on more then one occasion to rinse quinoa before you cook it (something about bitterness?) and I have tried it rinsed and non-rinsed and frankly could not tell the difference. So I say forget the whole rinsing business and just throw it into a pot but if you feel it makes for better quinoa that way by all means, rinse to your heart’s content. SO, take 2/3 of a cup of quinoa and place it into a medium pot with 1 cup of water and a pinch of salt, over a medium high heat. Let that come to a boil, then reduce it to a low simmer and let it cook for about ten minutes, or until the water has mostly evaporated. Cover the pot, remove it from the heat and set it aside.

Meanwhile…..

halve 1 pint of grape tomatoes (or you can be lazy and leave em whole…which is fine) finely dice about 1/4 of a red onion, and finely slice 1- 2 green onions (depending on the size of em, you want to end up with about 1/4 cup) . Grab a handful of cilantro and roughly chop that so you have about a quarter cup of that as well. This is NOT rocket science! Do you LOVE cilantro? Add more! Despise red onion? Leave it out or at least reduce the amount….you can always taste and add more later. The perfect salad is the one you like to eat.

Now squeeze the juice of both of your limes over this, and hit this with a glug or two of olive oil (maybe two tablespoons). Salt and pepper to taste. Now my limes were NOT super juicy so I found that I needed some more acid to get this right, so I added a splash of rice wine vinegar. You may or may not need this step. Give it a taste! Once you think you got something going….

stir in your cooked (and hopefully mostly cooled) quinoa. Give it a taste to check for seasonings. Maybe add a little salt? Go ahead and slice up that avocado that you bought a couple days ago. Sprinkle em up with a little salt.

And the leftover salmon I was talking about? Break it into pieces. (I took the chill off of it in the microwave for about twenty seconds) You can use as much or as little as you like….you can see we did not have much. But it was enough.

Divide the quinoa between two plates and arrange the salmon and avocados over the top.

Stand back and admire the beauty of it all! Then dig in. Roll your eyes. Repeat.

What you will need to procure:

2/3 cups quinoa

leftover salmon (or two salmon fillets)

1 pint grape tomatoes

1/4 cup (or so) chopped cilantro

1- 2 green onions or scallions, thinly sliced (roughly 1/4 cup)

1/4 red onion finely diced (once again, use the amounts that you like)

the juice of two limes

olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, vinegar of your liking

Want to know how my friend makes her salmon? Well, she has three boys to feed so she starts with this:

You may not need this much but you get the idea. She pops this into a shallow baking dish and gives it a very generous dousing of Kikkoman Triple Ginger Teriyaki sauce!

In the oven it goes for 25 - 30 minutes. 350 degrees. Boom. Done. Obviously if you are dealing with smaller pieces of fish please adjust your cooking time. So for instance with two salmon fillets you may only want them in the oven 10 - 15 minutes, depending on the thickness.