Hubby’s birthday and Father’s Day fell on the same date this year, and we celebrated by gifting him with this Cookshack electric smoker he had been “hinting” for over the past several months. For a man who never really desires anything, it was nice to be able to do this for him.
So, the first smoker effort was salmon because it is one of our favorite foods. Perfect Daughter’s friend gave us his recipe which he declared “delicious.” Hubby cut the salmon into two pieces and followed the friend’s instructions exactly.
Unfortunately, our first meal of smoked salmon was not something we really enjoyed. The fish had a great smoky flavor, but it was drier than we like. Not one to waste food, I wrapped up the second piece to take home from the lake knowing that I could come up with a way to salvage it. The result was this absolutely delicious Smoked Salmon and Orzo Salad adapted from a Cooking Light recipe
Ingredients
Salad
- 6 cups water
- 1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups orzo,
- 1 smoked (or grilled) salmon filet (about 1/2-3/4 pound)
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
- 1/2 cup diced green or yellow bell pepper
- 1/4 cup chiffonade of basil
- 1/3 – 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- Salt to taste
Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette
- 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh dill
- 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- Fresh ground black pepper
- Cherry tomatoes, halved (I did not use these for the first serving because I intended to serve it with a Cherokee Purple tomato that I already had on hand.)
Instructions
Vinaigrette
- Whisk together all ingredients; set aside. Whisk again before adding to orzo-salmon mixture.
Orzo-Salmon Mixture
- Bring 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add asparagus; cook 3 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove asparagus from water with tongs or a slotted spoon, reserving water in pan. Plunge asparagus into ice water; drain and set aside.
- Return reserved water to a boil. Add orzo, and cook according to package directions, omitting salt and fat.
- Drain well; rinse with cold water and drain again.
- While orzo cooks, break fish into chunks. Combine fish, orzo, diced vegetables, feta and basil in a large bowl; toss gently with the Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette to coat.
- I served it on top of the tomato and mixed spring greens.
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The vegetable amounts are very flexible. Do them to your liking.
A surprise: For whatever reason, this piece of salmon was cooked perfectly. It was soooo good. Go figure.
Linked to: Easy Natural Food
a smoker! how cool! and that salad looks delicious!!!
Wow, smoked salmon is so tasty, I’m very jealous! What a great way to serve it in this yummy salad! Thanks for sharing with Summer Salad Sundays!