I don’t know about you guys, but the weeks following Thanksgiving put me in a quandary. The weather is cooling down, which makes me want cold-weather foods — soups, braises, casseroles, any kind of long-simmering or lovingly baked comfort food. But seeing as Thanksgiving this year put all of us in a veritable food coma (only half of us even made it to dessert, the remainder crawling towards, then promptly passing out on, the couch), my body has also been craving vegetables, and fibre, and something that will help me detoxify a bit from the gravy-laden, carb-loading free-for-all of Thanksgiving dinner and the week of leftovers that followed.
So: how about a salad? But a comforting warm salad with robust fall flavours, with salmon and roasted yams, dotted with crunchy, spicy candied pumpkin seeds, in a maple-lemon dressing. One that packs well for lunch the next day. You’ll never get food court salad again. And you can put away your elastic waistband pants until Christmas.
Admittedly, this is more work than your average salad, but well worth it and good enough for company. Poaching salmon gives you a moist piece of fish that can cook on its own while you prep the rest of the meal, but for a dinner party you can always pan-sear or roast the salmon for a better visual presentation.
This salad is versatile — I’ve made it with roasted cubes of butternut squash instead of sweet potatoes, thrown pickled red onions on top, changed up the greens — so be creative and throw in whatever flavour combos you like best. I’m a big fan of the sweet-slash-savoury combo, so I love the contrast of the sweet potatoes and the pumpkin seeds against the salty bite of the feta cheese, but you can omit the feta if that’s not your bag. Note: A quicker version of this would omit the pumpkin seeds (or you can use pre-toasted ones), and you can sometimes find pre-cubed sweet potatoes or squash at the grocery store to save you some time.
Warm Salmon Salad with Sweet Potatoes and Candied Pumpkin Seeds
Serves 4
4 fillets salmon, skin removed
Leftover herbs/onions/vegetables for poaching liquid*
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbsp olive oil
Salt and pepper
8 cups mixed greens or baby spinach, washed and dried
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup candied pumpkin seeds (see recipe below)
* I usually have half an onion or lemon somewhere in my fridge and leftover herbs (thyme, parsley, dill) or carrots/celery that are a bit rubbery — all of these can go into a poaching liquid to help flavour the fish. You can toss in a few peppercorns or some white wine as well. If you don’t have anything, just throw in a generous pinch of salt and pepper.
For dressing:
1.5 tbsp maple syrup (or honey)
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp cider vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch of kosher salt
1. Preheat oven to 400F, and put a large pot of water (with a lid) on to boil and add any ingredients for poaching liquid.
2. Toss cubed sweet potatoes with olive oil, salt and pepper and place in a small baking dish, arranged in a single layer. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.
3. To poach salmon, reduce boiling poaching liquid to a medium simmer, then add fillets to pot and immediately remove from heat and cover. Leave covered, for about 20 minutes while you prep the rest of the meal. Check salmon to make sure it’s cooked; it should flake when tested with a fork and should be a soft pink colour inside. Remove with slotted spoon and discard poaching liquid.
4. To make dressing, whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl until emulsified. Adjust seasonings to taste and set aside.
5. To assemble salad, toss greens, pumpkin seeds, feta cheese and warm sweet potatoes with enough dressing to lightly coat, reserving a few tablespoons, then divide onto plates and top each with a fillet of salmon. Drizzle salmon with a bit of dressing, add additional pumpkin seeds and feta on top for garnish. Serve warm.
For pumpkin seeds:
(Make these ahead: you can triple this recipe and keep the rest around for a good snack situation)
1 cup pumpkin seeds*
1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
* If you are digging these out of a pumpkin yourself, make sure you rinse them of all pulp and let them dry out a bit (wet ones will take longer to roast)
1. Preheat oven to 325F. Whisk together melted butter, sugar, cayenne pepper, cinnamon and salt until smooth. Add pumpkin seeds and toss to coat evenly.
2. Transfer to a greased foil-lined or parchment-lined baking sheet and spread in a single layer. Roast for about 25-30 minutes, until toasted and browned, shaking pan around every 8 minutes or so to keep from burning.
Sara Chan is a recently called Toronto lawyer. Her favourite food group is pork. Sara’s column appears every other Tuesday here on lawandstyle.ca.
Photo by Matt McGee