SALMON NIÇOISE WITH LITTLE PASTA EARS

There are many versions of this popular and healthy salad. I find this one the best version I have tried so far. Instead of using potatoes it uses orecchiette pasta. The dressing is just delicious. I used the skin of the salmon. I put it on a cold fry-pan with a bit of oil and fried it until crunchy. It adds an extra oomph!

P.S. Look at the variation at the end, using already cooked hot smoked salmon and with potatoes instead of pasta.

INGREDIENTS:
250g orecchiette pasta (or any other small pasta)
500g salmon fillet
2 Tbsp olive oil
200g green beans
1 cup (185g) marinated Kalamata olives
1 red capsicum, thinly sliced
8 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 red onion, finely sliced
6 anchovies, halved lengthways
100g (2 cups) baby English spinach leaves
4 hard-boiled eggs, quartered

Dressing
3 Tbsp olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp wholegrain mustard
2 Tbsp chopped dill
1 tsp honey

METHOD
Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of rapidly boiling water until al dente. Drain and rinse with warm water.
Cook the beans in boiling water until tender, then drain.
In a big bowl, gently toss together the beans, olives, capsicum, cherry tomatoes, onion, anchovies and pasta.

Remove the skin and any bones from the salmon and cut into large chunks. Heat the oil in a frying pan and cook the salmon in batches over high heat until crisp and browned - take care not to overcook it or it will fall apart in the salad.
Serve on a bed of baby spinach leaves. Top with the beans mixture, salmon and eggs. 
For the dressing, whisk together all ingredients and drizzle over the salad.

 

Serves 4-6

VARIATION:

Boil some whole potatoes until just tender. Let them cool and then peel and cut into 1 cm slices. Add 1 Lebanese cucumber, cut in half, seed removed and then thinly sliced.

Continue as for previous recipe, and then add the hot smoked salmon cut into small chunks at room temperature.