How to turn your Dry Salmon into a Delish Salmon Salad

OOPS I DID IT AGAIN…

OKAY – don’t tell me that I am the ONLY chick who is guilty of overcooking my salmon…

A couple weeks ago, my entire family visited me in Madison for the weekend. Before the family drove up, I received one of the best texts a college student could ever receive from his or her mom – “I’m going to TJ’s and the grocery store, want me to buy you anything?”

I SCOURED the internet looking for all the TJ’s fall product staples and concocted a long ( LONG ) list of food and products. Next to the TJ’s Honey Crisp Apple scented candle, I added “frozen salmon fillets”.

A grocery store in my hometown sells frozen and single serve salmon fillets. It’s SO ideal for me because I don’t have much spare time to buy a large slab of salmon, cut it into fillets, and separate the fillets into small ziplock baggies to store in the fridge.

I wasn’t only ecstatic to see my family that weekend, but I was also SO hyped about including more fish in my diet!

… #JustDieteticsMajorThings…

The American Heart Association recommends eating fish ( particularly fatty fish ) 2x a week. I was essentially on a chicken only diet ( per laziness ), so I knew that I should switch things up.

Since I was a bit out of practice with my salmon baking, I overcooked my first fillet since breaking my fish diet drought.

Everyone knows that an overcooked salmon is the WOAT!!

Ironically, the next week in my food science lab, we learned about the “10 minute rule” in regards to cooking fish. To follow the 10 minute rule, you must:

  • Measure the fish at its thickest point
  • Cook the fish 10 minutes/ 1 inch, turning it halfway during cooking time
  • Add 5 minutes if cooking the fish in a sauce or tin foil

If only I learned about this cooking method before I dried my salmon!!

Salmon is WAYYY too precious to waste, so I had to get a little creative; how can I prepare this dry salmon fillet but make it taste good?

Well, I’ve been whipping up my Chicken Salad about every other day ( I’m just a LITTLE obsessed ) so the whole protein salad has been top of mind.

Why not make a salmon salad?

This salmon salad will bring your dry salmon back to life, but if you’re making the salmon from scratch, there is NO need to bake it longer than necessary for this recipe..

Recipe:

3 ounces salmon

1/2 T light mayo

1 laughing cow ( at room temperature )

1 T greek yogurt

1/2 tsp worcestershire sauce

1/4 tsp garlic

1 tsp Lemon juice

1/4 tsp onion powder

salt + pepper to taste

Cali’flour Crackers

Directions

Mix the mayo, laughing cow, greek yogurt, worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, onion, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Fold in the cut salmon. Refrigerate to allow the ingredients to marinate.

ANOTHER TIP : this salmon salad is light and healthier than most salmon salads, but make sure that you don’t ruin the health of the salad with a cracker lacking nutritional value. I enjoy snacking on mine with Cauliflower Thins – their ingredients and nutrition label are TO DIE FOR. Seriously, 1 serving has 2 grams of fiber, 0 net carbs and 5 grams of protein. Their first four ingredients are: almonds, egg whites, cauliflower, and extra virgin olive oil. HELL YASS!!

I hope you enjoy! DON’T forget to take note of the 10 minute rule – I’ll have those rules pinned to my freezer for the next time I defrost a salmon fillet!

xx hails

Thank you Cali’flour Foods for providing product for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.