Grilled Salmon Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

grilled pistou salmon on a bed of lettuce

Grilled Salmon Salad with Basil Vinaigrette

Sip + Sanity | Linda Feller

This Grilled Salmon Salad with Basil Vinaigrette is loaded with bright veggies, healthy for you salmon and topped with an herbaceous pistou-based vinaigrette that will have you saying mmmmm with that very first bite!

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Main Course, Salad

American, French

people

605 kcal

Equipment

Food Processor
Sauce Pans
Grill

Ingredients

Pistou

4 ounce fresh basil, leaves only
2 medium cloves garlic, pressed or minced
½ cup freshly grated parmesan
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon kosher salt

Salmon

1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 5-6 oz salmon fillets, center cut, skin on

Salad

8 ounce baby or fingerling potatoes, skin on
8 ounce french beans, trimmed
5 ounce mixed greens
8 dried apricots, diced
16 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 ounce goat cheese, crumbled

Vinaigrette

2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup red wine vinegar, or lemon juice
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
kosher salt + fresh cracked pepper

Instructions

Make the Pistou

Put all the ingredients for the pistou in the bowl of your food processor. Run it for 20-30 seconds to combine. Scrape into a bowl and set aside.

Marinate the Salmon

Combine 4 tbsp of pistou with 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Place the salmon on a dish and brush the pistou-lemon marinade all over the salmon flesh. Allow this to rest on your counter for about 20 minutes while you prep the remaining salad ingredients. Taking the chill off the fish will help it cook evenly on the grill.

Make the Vinaigrette

Combine 2 tbsp of pistou with olive oil, red wine vinegar (or lemon juice), and dijon. Season with kosher salt and pepper to taste.

Prep the Salad Ingredients

Fill a bowl witih ice water and set it aside.
Fill one saucepan with 6 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Salt the water then add the French beans and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the beans and immediately add them to the ice water to stop cooking and set their color. Once sufficiently cooled down, remove them from the ice bath to drain.
While you wait for the bean water to boil, place the whole baby potatoes in another saucepan and cover them with water, about 1 inch over. Set it over high heat to boil, then allow them to cook for 5 minutes under boil. Drain them and set aside to cool. Cut the potatoes in half or in quarters so they are bite sized.

Grill the Salmon

Preheat your clean grill until it reaches about 500°F. Then, set it up for 2 zone cooking: one side should be left on high heat, the other side on lower heat. If using a charcoal grill, push coals to one side to achieve 2 zones.
Place a wad of paper towels on the end of tongs, and saturate with vegetable oil to grease the grates on the hot side. Reserve to grease the cool side.
Place the salmon, skin side down, on the hot side of the grill and cover. Cook for 6 minutes. Grease the cool side of the grate. Using a long spatula, carefully check that the skin releases from the grate, then move the fillets to the cooler side of the grill and flip them flesh side down. Cover and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Carefully remove them to a plate.

Assemble the Salad

Divide salad greens between 4 plates. Next, evenly distribute the French beans, potatoes, cherry tomatoes and apricots across the salad. Crumble ½ oz of goat cheese onto each plate, then drizzle with vinaigrette. Finally, place one piece of salmon on each salad.

Notes

Serve this family style instead by assembling the salad in one large serving dish.

Nutrition

grill, seafood

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