Hello !

In the kitchen this week, I've been practising a couple of salmon recipes, one I'm sharing below, (the other needs a plan B!).  Salmon is easy to cook and quite forgiving if it gets an extra minute or two whilst cooking.  I love it with Asian flavours, soy, ginger and chilli, but this week, I've kept it bare and got creative with the salad I served it with and a creamy herb dressing.

Over at Two Tree Island, our favourite local stomping ground.

Our second recipe is Salmon, with a creamy herb sauce and broccoli and barley salad.

SALMON with a barley salad and creamy dill Dressing

SALMON

4 salmon steaks (skin on)

GRAIN SALAD

Broccoli head

2 carrots

2 Spring onions

Handful of spinach

150g barley

2 cloves of garlic (Bashed)

Extra virgin olive oil

½ Lemon

CREAMY DRESSING

3 tablespoons buttermilk

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1 tablespoon of white wine vinegar

½ clove of garlic (crushed)

Squeeze of lemon

Bunch of dill (mint or basil would also work well) roughly chopped

Rinse the barley well, in cold running water, then pour into a sauce pan and add at least double the water. Bash your cloves and garlic so that the flavours can permeate the barley and add to the pan.  Bring to the boil, then simmer for 45-55 mins.  Barley is cooked when just tender.  Once cooked, drain and leave to one side.

Remove your salmon from any packaging and lay skin down on a plate, lined with kitchen roll.

Whilst the barley is cooking, prep the vegetables:

Break the broccoli into florets, I like to keep some of the stem as there’s lots of goodness here, cut along the vertical so you have long pieces.

Grate your carrots

Finely slice the spring onions.

Make a lemon dressing with 4tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, juice of lemon, splash of water and, ½ tspn  of sugar and a pinch of salt, whisk together and taste for seasoning.  Toss a few spoonfuls of the dressing together with the barley and vegetables.

To make the creamy herb dressing, simply mix all the ingredients together and taste to season.

Whenever I cook fish I like to cook all the other components first, it always cooks relatively quickly and it enables you to give it your undivided attention.

In a non stick add a little oil about 1tbspn, on a medium heat. Once its hot carefully add the salmon, fillets skin down.  Cook for about 5 minutes, keep a keen eye, you want the skin to crisp but not burn, if the pan becomes too hot, simply remove the pan from the ring and let the heat drop slightly, then continue to cook.  When you are happy with the skin, turn the heat off and turn the salmon over, this will finish the salmon with the residual heat. 

To check your salmon is cooked, pull the flakes in the centre away, you want the flesh to be pink but not transluscent.

If you make either of this week's dishes, send me a note or a tag!

Fish can play an important role in a healthy diet, salmon is an oily fish, which means it has high levels of omega 3 fatty acids, which are vital to our brain and heart health.  It is a protein rich food, a good source of vitamin D and selenium which is necessary for healthy thyroid function.  In the UK it is recommended we eat 2 portions of fish each week to support a healthy, balanced diet. Salmon for me is one of the easiest to cook with and readily available throughout the year

If you ever miss a recipe, just send me a message here at susan@leighonseasupperclub.co.uk or on insta (hit the live feed below) and I'll re send or help you in any way I can - that's what I'm here for!

Have a lovely weekend.