Spring Vegetable Salmon Salad with Lemon Dill Champagne Vinaigrette

Spring Vegetable Salmon Salad with a Lemon dill Champagne Vinaigrette – hit my craving for this salad and made me remember why I LOVE spring 🙂 

These crunchy, quickly blanched snap peas elevate this dish so much, and paired with the easy homemade lemon dill champagne vinaigrette, WOW – I promise you all will love this one.

Serves 3-4

VIDEO TUTORIAL HERE: Spring Vegetable Salmon Salad with Lemon Dill Champagne Vinaigrette VIDEO

Ingredients:

For the Salad

• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1.5 cups water
• pinch kosher salt
• 2 persian cucumber cut into half moons
• 1 romaine heart chopped
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes
• 8 ounces sugar snap peas – trimmed and halved
• 1 lbs (pounds) salmon
• kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon neutral oil

For the Dressing

• 1 lemon juiced
• 2 tablespoons champagne vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons dill chopped; plus more to garnish the fish
• freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions

1. In a small pot, add the 3/4 cup of quinoa, 1.5 cups of water, and pinch of kosher salt. Bring up to a boil, then stir and reduce the heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. When finished, remove the lid, fluff, and let cool.
2. Set up a pot of boiling water, then prep the produce – cut the romaine, cucumbers, tomatoes, dill, and snap peas. Also set up an ice bath station by filling a large bowl with 2 cups of ice and 1 cup of water.
3. Once the water is boiling, add salt, then add the trimmed and halved snap peas. Make sure to have your ice bath ready. Cook in the boiling water for 30 seconds (do not overcook – you want these to be crispy!), then add them directly into the ice bath. Let this sit until it’s cool, about 5 minutes, then drain the water.
4. Make the dressing by combining all the ingredients in a glass jar or bowl. Whisk together and set aside.
5. Cut the salmon into individual portions (about 5-6 ounce pieces), and salt generously. Heat a pan on medium high heat then sear the salmon for about 3 minutes on each side (depending not the thickness of the salmon). Flip occasionally to prevent burning and reduce the heat as needed.
6. Assemble the salad by assembling a bed of the romaine. Top with a few spoonfuls of the cooked quinoa, and then the cucumbers and tomatoes. Spoon a few tablespoons of the dressing onto the salad, mix and taste for seasoning. Taste and adjust vinaigrette or salt as desired, then top with the salmon and serve immediately.