Can Your Canned Fish! Fresh Salmon Salad

by Marjan
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One of our early favorite posts was for my tuna fish sandwich recipe.  As you and my friends know by now, I prefer to cook from scratch.  Therefore consuming tuna fish or even tomato paste or sauce from a can or jar, just doesn't cut it for me.  We make our own tomato paste, so why not our own 'canned fish'? Eating farm to table at the ranch, our meals are fresh and full of flavor; prepackaged ingredients fail to carry over the taste and nutritional value I prefer when cooking.



Necessity is the mother to creativity! Instead of complaining about unhealthy canned tuna fish, why not make my own? Usually when I cook fish for my family, I end up with left overs. Does anyone like left over fish? Now, whenever I buy a large fish, I cook one half of my fish with my favorite dressing (such as last weeks recipe for passion fruit glaze or saffron and sumac baked salmon) and the other half of the fish, I simply seasoned it with salt, pepper and olive oil.


I baked the fish at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.  We devoured the one with my dressing on it; no left overs here! With the other half, I removed the skin and with two forks, shred it into chunks. The following day, I dress and season my fish with robust flavor using fresh ingredients such as lime, chopped bell peppers, celery, and onions; my transformed, home made tuna doesn't taste like left overs! Impressively, there is a noticeable lack of 'fishy' taste and smell of canned tuna; my taste buds flourish with flavors which are rich, pure, clean, and robust!


I highly recommend canning your canned tuna! When making your own, you control the quality of fish and also do away with all the preservatives used to store fish on shelves for months!
Instead of tuna, try salmon as I did for my Salmon Salad which I love to eat with bread as a sandwich. Whether you serve this recipe as a salad, sandwich or appetizer, it is simply delicious, tasty, healthy, and rich with protein and vegetables. Save your canned tuna for camping trips instead!






Salmon Salad/Sandwich
Serves 4-6
Of course, you can you use any fish of choice and also modify quantity of ingredients based on size of fish.
Ingredients:
1/2 of whole salmon fish (deboned)
2 stalks of celery- finely chopped
1 green bell pepper- finely chopped
1/2 cup purple onion- finely chopped
1-2 jalapeño (optional); seeds removed and finely chopped
2 large juicy limes; zest and juice (add more lime juice for a more delicious, tangy salad)
4-5 heaping tablespoons of mayonnaise
1 tablespoon mustard
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
olive oil
Sandwich bread of your choice- toasted

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Oil baking sheet and place salmon skin down. Generously sprinkle with sea salt and ground black pepper. Drizzle quality olive oil on top and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. Remove and toss skin; with two forks, shred fish into chunks.
Store in fridge until ready to use; do not keep fish more than 3 days.
If not using fish right away, place desired amount of fish in Ziplock freezer bags; tightly seal out air and freeze for up to 3 months. To use frozen fish, place bag of frozen fish in the fridge for 24 hours  before using.
In a large glass or stainless steel bowl, toss and mix together fish chunks, mayonnaise, mustard, celery, bell pepper, onion, jalapeño (if using), zest and lime juice, salt and pepper to taste (approximately 1 teaspoon each). If you prefer, add more lime juice for tang. I like to toast my bread slices, place 2-3 large tablespoons of salmon salad mix in the middle of my bread and enjoy with cold beer and chips (can't be 100% healthy all the time!)


Enjoy!
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From our partner: LO+JUNE

From our partner: LO+JUNE
Artisanal French products in our Swiss fine food boutique