Blackened Salmon Salad with Avocado Ranch Dressing

This light, fresh, and colorful salad is bursting with fantastic flavor and texture. This is a salad you’d actually want to eat!

Don’t you just love how bright and fresh this salmon salad is? It’s absolutely perfect for summer. And speaking of summer, I wanted to update you on my summer reading.

The last I mentioned I was about to start reading Looking for Alaska by John Green because I loved his other book, The Fault in Our Stars, so much. I’m sad to report I did not love Looking for Alaska nearly as much. In fact, I found the plot and characterizations to be extremely shallow. I mean, I was a teenager pretty recently and I don’t remember being THAT pathetically obsessed with one person, one kiss, labyrinths, or smoking cigarettes. It was all sort of cliche and I wasn’t able to draw much of a connection with any of the characters throughout the novel. There are many “young adult” genre books that I have enjoyed reading but this one just seemed a bit too superficial. I found none of the “philosophical” realizations in the book to be particularly insightful or resonating and I even observed sexism in the construction of the character of Alaska. Green relied on giving Alaska smart quotes to recite and good grades to boast instead of intelligent dialogue. Her character felt forced to me. Then he makes her out to be a sexually aggressive and promiscuous “bitch” who is prone to unexplainable and stereotypically feminine mood swings. The whole book just left a bad taste in my mouth. I’m pretty sure I’m in the minority with my views, though, because most people seem to love this book.

Now I’m on the search for my next book to read! In the meantime I’ll eat my salmon salad.

How to make

Blackened Salmon Salad with Avocado Ranch Dressing

Yield: 4 servings

Prep Time: 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes minutes

This light, fresh, and colorful salad is bursting with fantastic flavor and texture. This is a salad you'd actually want to eat!

Ingredients

Salmon:

• 3 teaspoons cumin
• 3 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 4 (4-ounce) salmon fillets, skin removed
• 2 teaspoons canola oil

Dressing:

• 1/2 avocado, skin removed and roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup low fat Greek yogurt
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons buttermilk
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Salad:

• 8 cups salad greens
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
• 1 medium cucumber, sliced

Directions

For the salmon:

1. In a small bowl combine all the ingredients except the salmon. Coat the salmon fillets evenly on both sides with the spice mixture, pressing the mixture in so it sticks.
2. Heat the oil in a large heavy preferably nonstick skillet over high heat. Add the salmon and cook until blackened on one side, about 4 minutes. Carefully turn the fillets and continue cooking until the other side is blackened and the salmon is tender, flaky, but not overcooked, about another 4 minutes.

For the dressing:

1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Press plastic wrap against the surface of the dressing and refrigerate until ready to use.

To assemble:

1. In a large bowl combine the salad greens, tomatoes, and cucumber. Divide the mixture among four serving bowls and top each with a salmon fillet. Drizzle with dressing. Serve.

Recipe Notes

For best results, use wild-caught Copper River Alaskan salmon or other high quality salmon.

Course : Main Course

Cuisine : American

Recipe by Tessa Arias

Author: Tessa Arias

I share trusted baking recipes your friends will LOVE alongside insights into the science of sweets. I'm a professionally trained chef, cookbook author, and cookie queen. I love to write about all things sweet, carb-y, and homemade. I live in Phoenix, Arizona (hence the blog name!)