salmon spinach salad with lemon olive dressing

I have been eating a lot of salad this week. I'm currently 13 days into my 28-day cleanse and am on day 7 of the "70% raw fruits and vegetables" segment (7 more days of that to go). I'm a little surprised: it hasn't actually been very hard. Twice weekly farmers' markets and the weekly CSA delivery have certainly helped and also ensure that I'm eating a good variety of raw fruits and veggies so I don't get bored. Granted, this dietary rule has led to some interesting (JR would say "questionable") meals. For instance, the other night my dinner was comprised of a bowl of tomatoes (with basil, olive oil, and balsamic, so quite tasty), a bowl of blackberries, and a small bowl of nuts.

JR has been eating a lot of frozen burritos this past week.

One night he didn't have to reach for the freezer was the night I made this salad. I had been thinking about it ever since I happened upon tuna-sized cans of wild-caught red sockeye salmon at the grocery store. Sockeye salmon is my favorite - it's from the northern Pacific, has beautiful ruby flesh, and is especially high in Omega 3 (the good fat). The fresh version tends to be pretty expensive in this area (I've seen it as high as $18.99 per pound), so I picked up a couple of the reasonably priced cans to test them out.

What I did not anticipate was the bones and skin in the can. But if you can get past that and clean the fish as you remove it from the can, the flavor was great.

This is clearly modeled after Nicoise salad. I had actually been planning on making a Nicoise dressing, however was unable to locate Nicoise olives at the grocery store. I improvised. The result was delicious. Thinking about it now, a few days later, kind of makes me want to eat it again. Perhaps it will make another cameo during my second week of 70% raw. Here's what I did:

Salmon Spinach Salad with Lemon Olive Dressing

Serves 2

lemon olive dressing:

juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)

3 Tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. dijon mustard

10 green olives, pitted

10 kalamata olives, pitted

1 clove garlic

sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

remaining ingredients:

2 handfuls spinach

7.5 oz. can salmon (or fresh salmon, cooked and flaked)

2 hard boiled eggs, sliced

a handful of green beans, trimmed

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 Tbsp. capers

Make dressing by combining all ingredients in a food processor.

Lightly steam greens beans just until bright green. Rinse under cold water.

In a large bowl, mix spinach with half of the olive dressing. Distribute onto 2 plates. Add remaining salad ingredients to plates, topping with capers. Add dallops of remaining dressing and freshly ground black pepper. Enjoy!

One year ago: honey ginger salmon