Salmon Salad and Cauliflower Pizza Night!

It’s Summer, and it’s hot, and a delicious dinner with fresh veggies is what sounds good to me!

I had leftover salmon from the night before that I was looking to serve in a salad, and this recipe jumped out at me. It’s packed with all kinds of veggies and fresh herbs, and of course you can use any salad ingredients that you prefer. But the star is the dressing! This lemon basil vinaigrette is now going to be my staple dressing! I loved it!

And I had been wanting to try a cauliflower pizza and read a review about Green Giant’s frozen cauliflower pizza being fantastic. So I found it at my local Publix, and I had some leftover tomato sauce, so in a few minutes I had a yummy slice of pizza (or two ;)) to accompany my salad. DELICIOUS!

SALMON SALAD

2-4 salmon filets

(Adapted from Jessica Gavin)

8 cups of mixed greens (I used romaine, kale and spinach)

1 cup grape tomatoes, halved

1/2 hothouse cucumber, peeled and chopped

1/2 cup red onion, chopped and marinated in red wine vinegar 20 minutes, then drained

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

4 oz. feta cheese

Any other assorted veggies or salad toppings you like such as: shredded carrots, snow peas, toasted walnuts etc.

LEMON BASIL VINAIGRETTE

1/4 cup lemon juice, plus 1 tsp zest

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 TBSP dijon mustard

1 tsp honey

2 cloves garlic, chopped

8-10 fresh basil leaves

1 tsp freshly chopped oregano

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Place lemon juice, zest, olive oil, mustard, honey, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper in a food processor.

Mix until well combined and a thicken dressing is achieved, ~ 30 seconds. Add more salt and pepper as desired.

SALMON: I made the salmon the night before by sprinkling the filets with kosher salt and coriander. Then I place them in a very hot skillet (flesh side down) for about 4 minutes. Then I turned them over (skin side down) for another 4 minutes or so (until the skin was crispy). I then placed them in the oven at 400 degrees F to finish cooking (roughly 5 minutes).

You can certainly prepare the salmon and serve it immediately in the salad, or do like I did and enjoy it one night as a meal with sides and the next night or at lunch the next day have it in a salad.

Final step is to make your salad by layering the salad ingredients. Finish the salad with the dressing and you’re all set!

CAULIFLOWER PIZZA

Green Giant frozen cauliflower pizza

1/4-1/2 cup tomato sauce (homemade or store bought)

shredded mozzarella

turkey pepperoni

banana peppers

kalamata olives

shredded parmesan

Cook the frozen cauliflower pizza(s) in a 425 degree oven for roughly 15-16 minutes, until lightly browned.

Top with the sauce and mozzarella. Then add whatever toppings you like. Finish with parmesan cheese.

Place back in the oven until the cheese melts about 6 minutes, and you’ve got a fantastic pizza that’s gluten free! I’ll definitely be fixing pizza this way in the future. It slices up beautifully, and even my husband agreed – – – we did not miss the floury crust one bit!