The weather is warming up and this is one of my favorite meals to make for lunch or dinner, a sesame crusted salmon Nicoise salad. It’s chock full of everything good with a little twist on the classic.
Instead of using tuna as in the classic French version I replaced it with sesame crusted salmon. The crunchy sesame seeds pair perfectly with the rich, buttery flavor of the salmon, a nice contrast in taste and texture.
I like to mix together the black sesame seeds with the toasted ones, it gives such a nice crunch factor.
When composing a salad like this you’ll have to prep a few things ahead of time, blanch your asparagus, hard boil some eggs and roast up some tiny potatoes, everything else is a piece of cake and a matter of arranging it all onto a nice big platter.
The more colors the better, I like using rainbow colored cherry tomatoes, peppers and fingerling potatoes and the pretty pink color of the salmon will just set the whole dish off.
This meal is simple for weeknights and elegant enough for entertaining, its fun to eat and fun to make, you need this salad in your life!
- 1 or 2, 6 oz. portions of salmon
- 1 heaping tablespoon each of black sesame seeds and toasted sesame seeds per portion, if using 2 portions you'll need 2 tablespoons each.
- 1 bunch asparagus, cooked then tossed in a little lemon olive oil
- 2 hard boiled eggs
- red onion
- nicoise or kalamata olives, pitted
- colored fingerling potatoes or small red
- sliced Persian cucumbers (they're small)
- colored baby peppers, thinly sliced
- 1 avocado, sliced
- rainbow colored cherry tomatoes
- sweet cherry peppers
- a few Calabrian chili peppers for heat
- arugula to line the platter
- USE AS MUCH OR AS LITTLE AS YOU WANT WITH ABOVE INGREDIENTS
- To prepare the salmon, preheat oven to 450F then line a small sheet pan with foil, drizzled with olive oil on the bottom.
- Mix the two different sesame seeds together and place into a flat dish.
- Salt and pepper your salmon portions and then press the tops only of the salmon into the seeds, they will stick very easily onto the salmon.
- Place salmon seed side up onto the prepared pan, then drizzle olive oil on each portion.
- Bake salmon for twelve minutes, then take it out of the oven and let it rest.
- Prepare the asparagus by blanching for two to three minutes in boiling water, remove with tongs then place into an ice bath to stop the cooking.
- Gently toss the asparagus in a store bought lemon olive oil, or a homemade version.
- Prepare the potatoes by roasting in a 400F oven tossed in olive oil with salt and pepper until tender and golden brown.
- Have your hard boiled eggs cooked and ready to go.
- Layer arugula on the bottom of a platter, place the salmon in the center, breaking it apart slightly.
- Arrange all the other ingredients in groups all around the platter making sure you salt the tomatoes and give them a little drizzle of olive oil as well.
- ENJOY!
I’m Marie, a wife, mother, mother-in-law, and gramma of two beautiful girls. My passion is food, clear and simple but especially Italian food, hence the name of my blog, Proud Italian Cook. I want you to feel right at home here so grab a cup of coffee, I’ll get the pastries, take a look around and enjoy your visit! {
