PT KITCHEN: Sesame Salmon Soba Salad

Author

Jess Kehoe, DPT

Full disclosure, I get most of my recipes from the internet, especially on Food & Wine.  I have a few cookbooks, but aside from using my “How To Cook Everything” by Mark Bittman every time I roast a chicken, I almost exclusively use my phone for recipes.  Recently, for some reason I was perusing my library app (yes, I also read library books on my phone, really what would I do without it!!) and saw the cookbook called “Cravings: Hungry for More” by Chrissy Tiegen (not that I follow her, but she’s a big famous internet influencer and married to John Legend, who by the way is a pretty good musician) and I just downloaded it on a whim.  Well so far I’m impressed!  This recipe I’m sharing today was SUPER easy and a delicious cold salad for a hot summer day.  Maybe you’ve caught on that I like easy and tasty, so this was a big win.  I’m already excited to try some more.  

ENJOY!


Ingredients (serves 4 as a main dish, but would be a great potluck salad also...):

8 oz soba noodles
3 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 teaspoons finely grated lime zest
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 1 ½ limes)
2 tablespoons of unseasoned rice vinegar (mine said “sweet and  tangy” on it and it was fine)
1 ½ tablespoons honey
Salt and pepper
2 skin-on salmon fillets (about 6oz ea)
1 firm-ripe mango peeled and cut into small chunks
1 medium cucumber cut into small chunks
4 scallions, sliced
1 medium fresh red or green chile, thinly sliced  (I planned on using an Anaheim because they
are flavorful but not too spicy, but I forgot to buy it and the salad was still delish, so you can alter spice up or down with this ingredient depending on your preference)
3 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds 

Instructions:

Set up a large bowl of ice water, then bring a pot of water to boil for the noodles.  Cook until tender, about 6 minutes.  Drain the noodles and rinse, then place them in the ice water and slosh them around a little, until the water becomes cloudy.  Drain them again.

In a small bowl whisk together the sesame oil, canola oil, lime zest, lime juice, vinegar, honey and 1 teaspoon of salt.  

For the salmon, position a rack about 8 inches from the broiler in your oven and pre-heat the broiler to high.  Season the salmon with salt and pepper and arrange the salmon skin-side up on a pan.  Broil the salmon for 6-7 minutes, or until just cooked through.  Let the salmon cool and peel off the skins.  Break up the salmon into bite sized chunks.
**Crispy salmon skin option: If you want (I did and it was pretty good) you can make crispy salmon skins at this point.  Lower the broiler heat to low, place the skins you just peeled off cooked side down, you will notice they already got a little crispy in the first step, and broil them again until browned but not burnt.  Then chop them up, and sprinkle on top of the salad when it’s all mixed up.

In a large bowl combine the noodles, mango, cucumber, scallions, chili, salmon and dressing, toss gently.  

Divide the noodles into bowls and sprinkle with sesame seeds (I totally forgot these, but added them to the leftovers and they added a nice little crunch!) and the salmon skins.

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