now, i already told you all that i love alliteration.  try saying the title of this post three times fast.

i would say that i eat seafood at least four days a week.  whether i am sautéing shrimp to throw over a salad or to add to pasta, baking salmon to pair with steamed veggies and a baked potato or to (you guessed it) throw over a salad or hitting up my favor sushi or poke places, seafood is a necessary staple.

i make an effort to pack my lunch at least three days a week and i have found this savory southwest salmon salad is an easy way to stay full for hours between sessions with clients while feeling like my tastebuds are in for a treat.  the true test was making it for my mom for one of our tuesday night dinners (we get together weekly to watch “this is us”).  while my mom likes many other types of fish, she has never been crazy about salmon – that is, until she tried this salad.

before i get into the recipe, i will tell you now that you can prepare this same salmon and pair it with whatever sides you’d like.  i like to do broccoli with garlic and lemon or maple bacon wrapped asparagus.  perhaps i will do a post on that later down the line.

this recipe will take you 25 minutes from start to finish.

first, we will start with the salmon.  i am all about figuring out how to multitask in the kitchen.  so if you are going to make the full blown salad and not just the salmon by itself, follow the following steps:

1. set your oven to 425
2. get a pyrex dish (my baking dish of choice because it has a lid, thus making it easier for storage) and coat it heavily with pam (or your preferred cooking spray)
3. place the salmon in the pyrex dish – i typically cook two pieces at a time to have enough for two meals (or for a guest, like my mama bear)
4. squeeze the juice from a quarter of a lemon over the salmon
5. lightly coat with coarse kosher salt and black pepper
6. sprinkle one teaspoon of my favorite ginger sriracha lemon rub over each piece of salmon (two teaspoons total)
7. place a slice of lemon over each piece of salmon
8. bake in oven for 12 minutes on 425

while it is in the oven, let’s start prepping our salad.

now, my favorite thing about salad in a bag is that you essentially have a meal prepped at your fingertips.  my least favorite thing is that it consistently seems like it is missing something (and it does not hold me over for a long enough timespan).  my favorite salad kit is the one you see above and i order them (typically three or four at a time) from amazon fresh.  you might be looking at this photo and wondering why there is an avocado and guacamole – the avocado was not ripe enough for use yet so i used three teaspoons of guacamole instead.  here is what to do while the salmon is being in the oven:

1. pour salad onto the plate of your choice
2. chop a tomato and a whole jalapeño to pour over the salad (i keep the seeds in the jalapeño because i like a kick)
3. sprinkle a 1/4 cup of pepper jack cheese over the salad
4. add 1/2 an avocado or three teaspoons of guacamole
5. sprinkle a light layer of garlic salt and black pepper
6. add the tortilla strips and dressing from the salad bag
   1. if you are meal prepping for the following today, keep these sealed and separate until the following day so your tortilla strips can stay crunchy and your salad can be soggy free 🙂
7. wait for the salmon to come out of the oven

we are almost finished! gently place the salmon over the salad and enjoy.

if you make it, let me know how it turns out.

xoxo,

k.tap