salmon salad with maple-soy almonds

At a recent girls’ gig in Palm Springs, I volunteered to make dinner and on the counter of my friend’s kitchen was a jar of slivered almonds. In a cupboard I found soy sauce, in the fridge maple syrup. Click click click went my brain and within minutes I had a batch of maple-soy almonds ready. I paired them up with wild King salmon in a cool, crunchy salad.

ingredients

Almonds
1 tablespoon butter
3/4 cup slivered almonds
kosher or sea salt
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
pinch cayenne, optional

Salad and salmon
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
1 head radicchio, chopped
1 bunch chives, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar or other wine vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, divided
1/4 cup olive oil
6 skinless wild salmon filets
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon maple syrup (preferably Grade B)
1 teaspoon low-sodium soy sauce
salt and pepper

directions

To make almonds, line a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper and set it alongside your stove. In a nonstick frying pan, melt the butter. Add the almonds and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, over medium-high heat, until almonds start to toast (about 1 minute). Pour in soy sauce and maple syrup and, if you want them spicy, the pinch of cayenne if. Keep stirring until the mixture looks bubbly and thickened and smells almost caramelized, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from heat and spread nuts on parchment-lined pan to separate them. Set aside until cool (they will be a bit sticky).

To make salad, in a large bowl, combine lettuce and radicchio. Add chives. In a small bowl or ramekin, whisk together vinegars and 1 teaspoon of the mustard until smooth, then whisk in the oil until emulsified. Set salad and vinaigrette aside.

Place the salmon on a foil-lined broiler pan or baking sheet. In a small bowl or ramekin, whisk the remaining teaspoon mustard, the lemon juice, maple syrup and soy sauce until smooth. Brush this on salmon. Broil salmon about 4 inches below the heat until done to your liking, 8 to 12 minutes. Remove from broiler. Toss salad with the vinaigrette; season to taste with salt and pepper and add more oil and/or vinegar as necessary. Crumble in maple-soy almonds and toss again. Divide among plates, top with salmon and serve immediately.