Holding on to the Summer Salad

The cooler weather is on its way very soon and summery salads will be on my menu less often and replaced with warmer foods like hearty soups. But before I make that transition, I thought I would share a salad I had over the weekend. It’s a composite of a number of different salads I’ve made this summer, but most closely resembles a recipe shown here which is put together with salad greens, fresh basil, mango, and grilled salmon in a cucumber yogurt vinaigrette. I’ve made a couple of changes below.

I like to refer to this guide before purchasing fish and I picked a wild, Pacific Coho salmon that is one of the safer choices listed. Instead of grilling, I pan seared the salmon in a skillet coated with coconut oil. I also added a little avocado to the salad and a simple dressing that I use often.

This salad can make a great vegetarian/vegan meal without the salmon and if I do leave it out, I will add for example, some raw or toasted walnuts. The salmon and avocado will provide lots of protein and healthy fats. The mango is a great source of fiber and antioxidants such as vitamin C and beta-carotene. The baby romaine also provides high levels of vitamins A, C as well as calcium and iron. The meal was topped off with fresh figs for dessert. Very satisfying!

For the salad (serves 2):

2 small salmon fillets, cooked

2-3 cups baby salad greens (I used baby romaine lettuce)

½ cup fresh basil leaves

½ avocado, cubed

½ mango, cubed

For the dressing, I used a very simple recipe that I’ve enjoyed on so many types of salads:

1 T fresh squeezed lemon or lime juice,

1 T real maple syrup,

2 T extra virgin olive oil

Whisk juice and maple syrup and continue to whisk while drizzling in olive oil.

To assemble:

Divide the baby greens, basil leaves, avocado, and mango between two plates. Flake the salmon and arrange on salads, then drizzle with dressing.