Warm Salmon Salad

Once again, this post has taken 2 whole days to actually get posted! Anyway, when I was cooking last night I was wondering how people decide what they want to eat/cook each night. I usually work on a 'using up ingredients' basis or on a 'cravings' basis. Both are fairly successful though the former does often involve a lot of negotiating in my mind as I decide what to make... I find that some ingredients lend themselves better to generating a whole menu than others. Fresh herbs, for example, are great to have around (but I am talking fresh! There are very few herbs that actually work well in their dried versions). They really can make a difference when coming up with and cooking a dish.

Basil, in my mind, is great for helping out pasta based dishes. Coriander goes great with most things involving chilli. Parsley, well parsley goes pretty much with anything! It is great with meat, or veg, or even fish. Mint is a herb utilised more for desert in the UK it seems, but in Greece it is often used in savoury dishes. Cheese pies and spinach pies with a bit of mint are lifted to another level.

My favourite of all herbs, though, is dill. I don't know why... I just find it so refreshing and, well, I can't quite describe it, but I love it! Admittedly it doesn't go with too many things, but what it does go with, it turns it into something special. My favourite salad is just thinly chopped cos lettuce with a dill vinaigrette. Delicious. In any case, I had some dill left from the Gigandes, so I decided to use it up with some salmon. Salmon REALLY goes with dill. I thought something light might be nice, so instead of salmon with a creamy dill sauce, I would go for a warm salmon salad with a dill and mustard vinaigrette. It is more of a starter size, but you can adjust the ingredients to suit a main.

Serves 2 (as a starter)

250g salmon fillet - boned and skinned
300g of fresh broad beans, podded and skinned (gives around 100g of actual beans)
300g of baby potatoes
big handful of dill, chopped
1 tsp of mustard
2 tbs of olive oil
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper

Preheat a fan oven at 160 degrees. Put the salmon fillet in some greaseproof paper, drizzle with a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap the paper tightly and put in an oven-proof dish and bake for 10 minutes. In the meantime boil the potatoes and the broad beans in salted water (the broad beans should be fairly al dente and should only need around 2 minutes cooking if they are fresh). Mix the mustard, olive oil, balsamic and salt and pepper to make a vinaigrette - I often use an old jar and just shake all together to amalgamate. Once mixed add the chopped dill to the vinaigrette. The salmon should come out very slightly 'pink' in the middle. Flake the fish and mix with the potatoes, broad beans and the vinaigrette. I enjoyed it as a side to a delicious sausage roll that Di from Jacks made. (Pork and fish is another great combination, but I ll go into that another day). Enjoy! x