Pan Seared Salmon & Kale Salad
A complete meal in one post! woo hoo! What I like about this meal is there are options, and really who doesn’t love options?! This meal takes about 30 minutes to make, so once again a perfect weeknight meal, and the best part?? You can make extras for lunch the next day in seconds… yes I said, seconds!
It’s a fairly simple recipe that will have your families coming back for more! And, in case you are wondering, yes both of my girls ate this, and no there wasn’t any bribery involved this time. 🙂
This meal can serve 2-4 depending on how much salmon you make. I used 4 fillets in this recipe for all of us, and it there were no left overs!
- 4 salmon fillets
- salt & pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp butter
- 2 – 3 cups kale
- 1 carrot shredded
- 3 tbsp toasted sunflower seeds
- 3 tbsp goat cheese
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1/8 cup red wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp sugar (or less – to taste)
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- To toast the sunflower seeds: put your pan over medium heat and add sunflower seeds dry. DO NOT add olive oil or anything to the pan. Keep an eye, and stir occasionally… they can take about 3-5 minutes depending on your pan. Toast until fragrant, and the seeds turn a golden colour.
- Remove pan and wipe with dry paper towel. You will see the oil that naturally comes from the seeds!
- Add the 1/4 cup olive oil, red wine vinegar, sugar and dijon mustard in a jar. Shake until mixed well. Arrange the kale in a bowl and add about 1/2 of the dressing. Mix well with the leaves, and let sit while you prepare the rest of your meal. Note: kale can be bitter sometimes, and is a tougher leaf for salad. By mixing the dressing with just the leaves and letting sit about 15-20 minutes, the bitterness will be removed, but not the crunch!
- Set you pan to medium heat. Add the remaining olive oil and butter. Swirl around until butter had melted. Sprinkle salt & pepper over salmon fillets. Place in the middle of the pan, and turn the pan to medium-high heat. Sear on one side about 4 minutes, flip and sear for about another 3 minutes, until the middle is cooked and you have a nice crust on your salmon.
- Here’s the fun part! You can then remove all of your filets and set them aside on a pan. Splash white wine in your pan, stirring up all the darkened, stuck-on pieces on bottom of your pan. Add a little dijon mustard and continue whisking. In a separate bowl mix equal parts cornstarch & water (about 1tbsp each). Mix until a paste forms. Add the paste to the pan glaze and stir until well mixed. You now have a glaze for the top of your salmon!
- Ok, back to the salad. Add your shredded carrot, toasted sunflower seeds & goat cheese to the kale. Mix together. You can choose to add more dressing at this point, but I left mine alone.
Serve it all together, and there you have it, dinner is served! The salad keeps well overnight in the fridge with the dressing on it so you also have your lunch ready for the next day.
Plus as I’ve mentioned leading put o this weekend BIG NEWS! The mailing list is ready! Make sure you take a moment and subscribe! This will be a monthly wrap Fuchsia Freezer Favourites from the current month, sneak peaks for next month AND exclusive surprises for subscribers only! How exciting! Slowly but surely I am building this up into what I’ve dreamed it would be.
Thank you for joining me again! If you have any comments PLEASE SHARE! I actually fixed an issue that was brought to my attention – YOU COULDN’T COMMENT! EEK! All is well and I’m back on the road to cooking & blogging some more. Have a wonderful day or evening everyone! Also, don’t forget I’m looking for suggestions for next months Book Club Book choice! If you’re not sure what I’m talking about check out the latest and greatest ‘review’. After all, I’m here to hang out around the kitchen table with you!
Cheers xo
This looks so good and healthy! I think you’ve dressed the salad in the best way, enough dressing to taste but not so much as to drown. Yum.
Yea I hate soggy salad… This turned out well with the kale, if you were to switch it out for spinach for example I would maybe use even less dressing (like 1-2tbsp max) and add it last minute! I hope you enjoy 🙂
I love that you toasted the sunflower seeds! I’ve never thought to do that before! I’ll have to try it!
It only takes a few minutes but really it adds a toasted flavour to the salad. I was really pleased with how it came out!!
complete meals are my favorite kind of posts!
This looks delicious! I’ll have to try it soon!
i love how easy the whole meal was coming together.
This looks amazing- I love salmon and I love kale, but what really got me is the addition of sunflower seeds. When I was a kid we always had them around but for some reason, I don’t eat them much as an adult and it makes me sad. I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I hope you enjoy it as much as my family does! 🙂
I haven’t tried kale just yet but this looks pretty good . I may have to give it a go.
If you don’t want to commit fully. Tried a 50/50 blend with spinach. Add the dressing the to kale only as per the “how-to” and when you’re about to serve mix in the remaining ingredients including the spinach. Toss and there will be enough dressing to coat the spinach as well. 🙂
This looks phenomenal! Both because it’s so wonderfully loaded with nutritious ingredients, and because it’s packed with so much flavor! Oh … and goat cheese! Can’t go wrong with goat cheese! Double yum! I’m so excited about this recipe – definitely, definitely pinning to share! 😀
Looks yummy and healthy. Going to have to try this one for my whole family!