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Saturday 9 April 2011

Hot-smoked salmon, lentil & pomegranate salad

(serves 2)

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
juice ½ lemon
1 garlic clove , finely chopped
2 tbsp roughly chopped tarragon
1 tsp clear honey
1 small red onion , thinly sliced
400g can Puy lentils , rinsed and drained
140g hot-smoked salmon
20g pack flat-leaf parsley , leaves picked
1 pomegranate , seeds removed
toasted pitta bread , to serve


  1. Combine the oil, lemon juice, garlic, tarragon and honey in a large bowl and season.
  2. Toss in the red onion and lentils and set aside to marinate for 10 mins.
  3. Break the salmon into large flakes and fold into the salad with the parsley and pomegranate.
  4. Serve with toasted pitta.

Make it meaty Make the salad as before, leaving out the salmon and swapping the tarragon for mint. Mix 2 tsp harissa with 2 tbsp yogurt and use to marinate 2 slashed, skinless chicken breasts for 10 mins. Grill the chicken.

Sunday 3 April 2011

Salmon in ginger and lemongrass broth

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

1 tbsp of sesame oil
1/2 tsp of garlic, chopped
1 tsp ginger, chopped
1 red onions, chopped
1 lemongrass stalks, cut in half and crushed with the back of a knife
2,5 dl cold water
A shake of Tabasco sauce
1 tsp of soy sauce
2,5 tsp fish sauce
2 x 100g salmon fillets (skin removed)
2 spring onions, chopped
1 handful of spring greens
2 chestnut mushrooms, sliced
1 nest of dried noodles
Juice of 1/2 lime and rind of 4
1 tbsp of chopped coriander

Method

Lightly heat the sesame oil in a large pan. Add the garlic, ginger, onions and lemongrass (to crush the lemongrass, use the back of a knife and bash the stalk so it splits). Saute for two minutes without browning. Add 500ml of cold water and bring to the boil. Then add the Tabasco, soy sauce and fish sauce. Gently lower the salmon fillets into the broth and turn down the heat. Simmer for four minutes until the salmon is cooked.

Remove the salmon and leave to one side. Add the vegetables and the noodles, and bring the broth back to the boil. Simmer until the noodles are cooked as per the packet instructions (normally about four minutes).

Finally, add the lime juice and the grated rind. Place the salmon in bowls and pour the broth and noodles over each dish. Finish with freshly chopped coriander.

I am fortunate enough to live in an area of London that has great Asian food. Viet Grill and Cay Tre, in the east of the city, are two of my favourite restaurants. Mark Hix introduced me to them and I have been a convert ever since. The meals are always so full of flavour. I would not be foolish enough to say that this dish is as good as any of theirs, but it's a start.

One of the pleasures of this particular dish is its adaptability. You can make it more spicy by adding chilli, replace the noodles with additional vegetables or meat, or substitute the salmon for tofu.

You don't need to live in London to source ingredients for Asian recipes easily. Most are now readily available in all large supermarkets.

Spring greens are in season and readily available, but you can use pak choi or spinach if you prefer. If you do opt for spinach, make sure you add it right at the end as it wilts within seconds.

The key is not to overcook this. A little bit of chopping, a quick bit of frying – it should be ready within 15 minutes.

Stir fry sauce

2 tbsp light soy sauce
2 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp clear rice vinegar or cider vinegar