dressing

Crispy, tender, flakey salmon, served on a heaping pile of fresh greens and veggies, topped off with toasted pine nuts and crumbled feta. Pan Seared Salmon Salad is the perfect combination of succulent flavors, summer freshness and heart-healthy fats and protein.I hope you had a great week! It was sure a fun, and busy one around here. The humongous rainstorm that happened Monday afternoon, left our entire area in a state of disaster on Tuesday. Most of the local freeways were shutdown and thousands of basements were flooded. What a mess! We stayed close to home that day, and enjoyed a great playdate with some very sweet friends from out-of-town. In the afternoon, we had another special visit with another wonderful friend that I haven’t seen in over 10 years! Tuesday was a great reminder for me to be thankful for all of the amazing people that are in our lives.

Speaking of blessings, I’m incredibly appreciative for another fantastic weekend with all of my cuties. The Woodward Dream Cruise, Andrew’s work party, and a visit to the park were a few of our highlighted events. Here’s a fun movie and a few pictures 🙂

Now that you’ve taken a look at our weekend, here’s a little background on what first inspired me to make this recipe.

On our recent San Diego Trip 2014, Andrew and I discovered a fabulous little restaurant, Harry’s Bar and American Grill, that was right around the corner from our hotel. We ate there for the first time on our date night. (Thanks to my wonderful Aunt Janie, for coming to our hotel to babysit while Andrew and I enjoyed a quiet, adult dinner out. WHAT A GIFT :)) We enjoyed our meal so much that we even went back later in the week. Call it a pregnancy craving, followed by our latest obsession, but ever since our venture out to the West Coast, salmon salads have been the latest craze in our house.

The picture on the left is the salmon salad at Harry’s, and the one on the right is from Pancho’s Restaurant in Los Angeles. Yum!

Here are a few candid pictures from our Pan Seared Salmon Salad nights at home.

This salad is best with this Creamy Balsamic Dressing.

It’s no wonder that this Pan Seared Salmon Salad has become an all-around crowd pleaser in our family. It’s easy, delicious, and loved by our whole family!

Pan Seared Salmon Salad

Serving Size: Serves 4

Ingredients

Pan Seared Salmon Salad:

4 (6 ounce) salmon fillets
Salt
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 heart romain lettuce, torn
8 ounces baby spinach
2 cups cherry tomatoes (halved)
1 avocado, sliced thin
1/3 cup red onion, sliced very thin
3/4 cup yellow sweet corn (if frozen, thawed)
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
Creamy Balsamic Dressing

For Creamy Balsamic Dressing:

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (or regular balsamic)
2 cloves garlic (sliced)
1/2 medium shallot (sliced)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
3/4 cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

To Make Dressing:

Add vinegar, garlic, shallot, mustard, honey, salt, pepper and dill to blender or Vitamix. Blend for about 30-60 seconds on low, then high speed. Reduce speed to medium and slowly drizzle in olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Blend for a few more seconds until fully emulsified. Stop blending when dressing looks thick and creamy. (Be careful not to over mix, or dressing will thin out.)
Cover and refrigerate dressing until ready to use.

To Make Salad:

Divide lettuce and spinach between plates. Then top with tomatoes, avocado, onion, corn, pine nuts, and feta. Set aside.
Pat salmon dry with paper towels, and season both sides with salt. Add 2 teaspoons oil to a large, nonstick skillet or grill pan, over medium-high heat. When pan is hot, add salmon and cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on one side. Carefully, flip salmon over and cook for 3 to 4 minutes more, or until salmon is crispy on the outside and the interior is cooked through. Let salmon rest in pan for 1 to 2 minutes, then add salmon to plated salads, drizzle with Creamy Balsamic Dressing and serve.

Notes

Dressing will keep covered and refrigerated for one week.

http://elizabethshome.com/pan-seared-salmon-salad/

Seriously easy, unbelievably creamy. Thick, Creamy Balsamic Dressing is perfect for any green salad. Slightly tangy, with a touch of sweetness, this dressing will upgrade your salads from ordinary, to extraordinary in no time!

Another summer Sunday and another blog post. 🙂 (My goal is to eventually start posting twice a week, but in the meantime, I’m just thankful for each post that makes it up.) I hope you had a wonderful Fourth of July weekend! We did! I’m thrilled to report that we even managed to survive our first week with Andrew back to work. Everyone was happy, fed and clean 😉 On top of that, laundry is caught up, and grocery shopping is done. Slightly tired, yes. Fun, productive week, yes! I will definitely be the first one to agree with everyone who told me that “the transition from one to two kids was much tougher than from two to three”. I mean, life is slightly chaotic now and there is usually a mountain of laundry to be done, but I guess that’s kind of how life with two little ones was anyway. 😉 Add little Charlie into the mix, and it’s just different. More laundry and less sleep, but LOTS more fun. So, all in all, it has been a great week, and such a nice long weekend. I’m just thankful for all of our blessings. Here are a few pictures of our little sweeties this week.

Now, let’s talk about this dressing. I actually stumbled upon the method for this recipe without even meaning to. I’ve been making this dressing recipe (not in its creamy form) for a while. But a few weeks ago, I was in my “creating” mode in the kitchen, and peered over at my Vitamix. “I wonder what would happen if I put my original dressing recipe in the blender and tried to emulsify it? Would it get creamy?” …Elizabeth was curious. (I guess we’ve been reading a few too many Curious George books around here ;)) But, with an idea like that, I figured I HAD to try it. I literally added everything to the Vitamix- vinegar, spices, whole garlic cloves and shallot pieces, and turned it on! It blended everything up in no time! So cool, and such a time saver! Next, I wanted to add the oil, but decided to drizzle it in, in a slow, steady stream. After adding all of the oil, and blending for a few more seconds, you will never guess what appeared! It was like magic! I removed the lid and peered down into the blender…sitting there looking up at me was a thick, creamy, delightful little substance. Did I say creamy? I mean, we’re talking restaurant quality, mayonnaise or sour cream-like thickness, and with only using healthy, extra-virgin olive oil. Totally awesome! Totally delicious! Super-duper eeeeasy! 🙂 I even whipped up a fresh batch this afternoon when we got home from the pool. (Throw ingredients in blender, mix, let chill in fridge. Dressing, done- in 5 minutes flat, or less!)

This Creamy Balsamic Dressing is the perfect addition to your favorite salads!

Creamy White Balsamic Dressing

Total Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients

1/4 cup white balsamic vinegar (or regular balsamic)
2 cloves garlic (sliced)
1/2 medium shallot (sliced)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
3/4 cup good quality extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

Add vinegar, garlic, shallot, mustard, honey, salt, pepper and dill to blender or Vitamix. Blend for about 30-60 seconds on low, then high speed. Reduce speed to medium and slowly drizzle in olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Blend for a few more seconds until fully emulsified. Stop blending when dressing looks thick and creamy. (Be careful not to over mix, or dressing will thin out.)

Notes

For best results, allow dressing to chill in fridge for an hour before using. Dressing will keep covered and refrigerated for one week.

http://elizabethshome.com/creamy-balsamic-dressing/