
Alex and I spent a rainy Saturday making lunch at Rick’s new house, after he got back from Lincoln Park Boat Club’s rowing practice. Rick is a big fan of fish, and was happy to be a part of this series of salmon recipes. He picked his favorite style of salmon preparation – tartare – and we planned a menu. I offered to pick up whatever vegetable looked great at the Green City Farmers’ Market and Rick elected to prepare a Passover-friendly dessert.
On Saturday morning, I strolled to the market with my friend and teammate, Alli Whitaker, and we enjoyed samples and made our selections. I bought greens and fresh asparagus; Michigan asparagus just came into season, so now is the time to buy or go to Michigan to pick some!
Recipe
Salmon Tartare and Spring Vegetables – serves 3 to 4
Neither Rick nor I had ever made salmon tartare, so we went online and found a recipe for “Wasabi-Infused Salmon Tartare” from HalfHourMeals.com. I simplified the marinade used for that recipe, based on my flavor preferences and which ingredients we had on hand.
You will need:
- 1 rounded t wasabi paste or powder to make paste
- 3 T fresh lemon juice, or about 1/2 lemon
- 3 T soy sauce
- 2 T rice wine vinegar
- 1/2 T finely chopped shallot
- 1/2 t ground ginger
- 1 to 1 ½ lbs of high-quality salmon
- 1 bunch of asparagus
- 1 T olive oil
- fresh ground black pepper, about 1 t
- about 6 C greens
- 3 T nuts – we used slivered almonds and shelled pistachios
- 1 C blueberries
- balsamic vinaigrette to dress salad
Steps:
- First, preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit for roasting asparagus.
- Add 3 t water to 5 t wasabi powder, and stir to combine. Invert your bowl for one minute to increase the wasabi spiciness. If you have pre-made wasabi paste, add one t to a small mixing bowl, and save more for serving with your entree.
- Mix in lemon juice, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, shallot and ginger with the wasabi paste.
- Remove the skin from your salmon, and chop the filet into small cubes (we went with about one cubic centimeter). Add salmon to a non-metallic mixing bowl, and stir in half of your marinade. Taste salmon to determine if you want to add more marinade; you want some of the salmon flavor to come through. Cover salmon bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes before serving.
- Next, wash asparagus and snap off the dried ends. Spread out stalks on a cookie sheet, and drizzle with olive oil. Add fresh pepper and roll to coat. When your oven has reached 450 degrees, add your asparagus pan and time for about 7 to 10 minutes. Pencil-thin asparagus should be fully roasted in 7 minutes, whereas really thick stalks could take up to 15 minutes. Pierce with a fork to check readiness.
- While asparagus is cooking, prepare your simple salad of washed greens, nuts and berries. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette and toss to coat. We topped our salad with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese before serving.
- When asparagus is ready, transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with fresh parmesan.
- We served our salmon with a dollop of extra wasabi paste on the side, and with just a touch of Thai ginger salt on top for extra crunch and salty flavor.
Source: “Wasabi-Infused Salmon Tartare by Rachel2 – HalfHourMeals.com.”HalfHourMeals.com. Aug. 2012. Web. 30 Apr. 2016.
Another great looking dish!
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Thanks Pat! This would be a good dish for Delaware in May!
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