After a lovely Memorial Day at Canyon Ranch (even though that Arizona heat seems to burn your skin on contact), I came home with an entirely new appreciation for kale salad and exercise classes. One after the other. The crowd there is a wonderful mix of young and energetic and people like me who are just posing as the former. The kitchen at the “ranch”, as it is lovingly called, does kale (and many other things) very well with the addition of a different dried fruit each day. The sliced dates were my favorite and they certainly took the sting out of the bitter kale.
I love a wilted salad so tonight I added warm grilled corn cut off of the cob and some roasted butternut squash to a base of thinly shredded kale and some cranberries and avocado. The addition of honey to the white balsamic salad dressing provided all of the sweetness to prevent that strong kale flavor from barreling through. You can find this salad on my previous blog post https://metirementblog.com/great-chicken-side-dishes-kale-butternut-squash-salad-rice-pilaf-lost-found-post/
I made the salad while the salmon was cooking. I bought a nice thick piece of salmon, put it on a piece of aluminum foul, and sprinkled it with a spicy rub (or you can certainly skip or temper the spice if you are a big wimp like me). The salmon just hangs out on the grill for about 15 minutes until it is cooked through. Then comes the plating which gives the usually boring kale salad a friendlier personality. It’s now tamed by the sweetness of the dressing and the warm, wilted vegetables.
When the salad is plated, you place a lovely piece of perfectly-cooked salmon over the kale salad, dollop with a bit of tzatziki sauce (https://metirementblog.com/greek-turkey-pita-tzatziki-sauce/) then tell everyone that you love kale so much you could actually eat it three meals a day. All day, every day. If you have any leftovers, the salad (with salmon, preferably) makes a wonderful next-day lunch. I know all about lunch as you know from reading this blog. MEtirement gives you a lunch break. And more. Much more.
Kale, Butternut Squash, Corn and Avocado Salad with Spicy Salmon and Tzatziki
A lovely light dinner to start the summer season out in a healthy way. Loaded with protein and veggies of every color, this is a rainbow in a bowl.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds salmon preferably organic
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the spice rub:
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- ¾ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ teaspoon dried coriander
- ½ teaspoon dried mustard
- 1-2 teaspoons ancho chili powder depending on how much heat you like
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or more to ramp up the heat
Instructions
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Place the salmon on a sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with the spice rub mixture.
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Place the salmon on a grill over high heat for 3-4 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and cook for 11-14 minutes more with the cover closed on the grill. The salmon will be cooked through but not well done. Adjust the cooking time up or down by 2-3 minutes for rarer or more well done, respectively.
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Place the kale salad in a bowl. Lay a piece of salmon over the top and garnish with a generous spoonful of tzatziki.
I can’t wait to try this!!
Thanks for the support!