Friday, October 29, 2010

Pasta Salad with Salmon


Since I've been writing this blog I frequently seem to find myself saying "When I was younger I didn't eat X, Y or Z".  Goodness, I didn't realize just how picky I was, and I'm beginning to think that it might be, my fault (just a teensy eensy bit...) that my kids are fairly picky as well.  Salmon is another one of those foods that I wouldn't have touched 10 years ago but I can't get enough of now.  

Try as I might, I don't always have the time to make a decent from scratch dinner with my full time afternoon chauffeuring job seeming to get into the way as I make my rounds in Carlsbad to soccer, dance and surf pick up and drop offs.  As such, I'm always on the lookout for an item that helps me manage my time in the evenings but is still a good quality, and tasty as well.  One of our favorite "go to" items on a busy night is Morey's Marinated Wild Salmon that I found at my local Costco.  (Morey's has not idea that I'm writing anything about them, but I wanted to pass this info on to anyone else looking for an extraordinarily tasty wild salmon that is ready to go!).  6 individually packaged fillets per box wait to simply be unwrapped, thawed and cooked.  Easy peasy on a weeknight without much time for cooking.  I set the rice on to cook, pop the fish on the grill, toss together a quick salad and we have dinner in no time!

Last night after driving to dance and soccer this is exactly what I did!  3 perfectly grilled salmon fillets were ready for dinner when my son politely informed me that he really wasn't hungry as he had made himself the most "amazingly awesome" meal... all from the freezer!  As he has seen me do so many times, he even took photos of his "heaven on a plate" (burritos and mini pizzas from Trader Joe's).   

Faced with 2 leftover fillets I threw together a Pasta Salad with Salmon this afternoon for lunch.  The marinated salmon worked wonderfully in the salad that was dressed with a creamy, lemon spiked dressing.  Tossed with pasta, onions, peas and apple and served over a bed of greens the salad was the perfect meal, not from the freezer.



Pasta Salad with Salmon

Salmon combines with a creamy, lemon spiked dressing for a quick, tasty salad for lunch or a light dinner. 

1/3 cup Greek-style non fat yogurt
squeeze fresh lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
3 Tbs low fat sour cream
salt to taste
2 cups prepared and drained pasta, bowties or corkskrews work well
1-2 leftover salmon fillets (marinated or plain work equally as well!), cut into chunks
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1/4 cup chopped red or white onion
1/2 apple, chopped
salad greens
walnuts or pepitas for sprinkling

In a small bowl combine the yogurt, lemon juice and zest, sour cream and salt.  Whisk well to combine.

In a larger bowl combine the pasta, salmon, peas, onion and apple.  Stir to combine.  Add enough of the dressing to coat nicely, but not to be "drippy".  Arrange salad greens on a plate and scoop pasta salad over the top.  Sprinkle with walnuts or pepitas over the top and serve. 

Remnants from one happy teenage boy!

15 comments:

  1. What a great idea for a salad! I am the same as you, you would never catch me eating any fish as a kid, now I love it! Saving this to make next week, thanks again Kim!

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  2. Nice recipe! The clean plate says it all!

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  3. This sounds great. I'm always looking for ways to use leftover salmon. We never eat all that we cook and it's too good to let it go to waste.

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  4. Your son could have his own food blog! I will confess to building many meals like his out of the freezer but your pasta looks way better :)

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  5. i like your salmon.According to the expert of this salmon fish,salmon is king of fish oil. All fish have fats called omega-3s, but salmon is one of the richest sources. Omega-3s are major players in the prevention of heart problems and may help with controlling inflammatory problems

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  6. Love the pasta salad but even more I loved the food styling of your son's dish. He already started behaving like a food blogger.

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  7. The salad sounds wonderful! Love the hearth healthy ingredients. This would make for a wonderful dinner! I'm going to look for those salmon fillets on my next trip to Costco. Thanks for passing this info on! The plate of your son made me LOL, my kids are fantastic healthy eaters but if given the choice they would fix the exact same plate your son did LOL

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  8. I would even eat the pasta salad alone, but with the salmon, super delish! Loved your cute story and you son's choice...put a smile on my face.
    Thanks for your good wishes, and kind comment on my blog.
    Love your blog...as always!

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  9. Definitely a quick, healthy yet delicious 'go to' meal for a busy weeknight. Seems we had similar ideas this month about finding stuff that was quick to prepare. Sometimes I make this with tuna instead of salmon.

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  10. My children would LOVE this salad. The love pasta and fish so much!

    HAHA at your son!!! How sweet! I can my children doing that when they're older :)

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  11. Looks SO delicious! This made my mouth water just looking at it!

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  12. I love pasta and fish (mostly yellowfin salad tho we rarely have since we rarely have leftover fish :P

    your son's plate made me smile :)

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  13. I'm an unusually picky eater as well. Seafood I cannot go near, think about, or smell without wanting to gag. I've read so many interesting seafood recipes on blogs in the last few months and get annoyed I can't eat it.

    I also won't eat garlic, onions, squash, avocado, mushrooms, and several other things that are common in some amazing dishes. Just can't get over my dislike for some reason.

    *sigh*

    This pasta salad looks delish though even if it does have seafood in it.

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  14. Oh, you make a wonderful pasta salad. Wow. Of course, to me pasta is comfort food so no wonder. Yum!

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