Grilled Salmon Salad With Orzo, Arugula And Roasted Peppers

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This is the first recipe I have ever posted and "adapted" from a fellow food blogger and friend.   Her name is Sam Hoffer and she publishes the  popular cooking blog, My Carolina Kitchen.   I drool over everything she posts, including the photos of her recipes, a collaboration with the best in-house photographer any food blogger could ever dream of, her husband Meakin. Moreover, I know I can trust her recipes and that is not something I often or easily say.

When I saw the original recipe for Mediterranean Salmon Salad  I knew that I had to make it, particularly since we were having grilled salmon that night.   I had plenty on hand for dinner with enough to keep for what  promised to be the queen of leftover grilled salmon recipes.  Perfect timing...my friend Sam and I are usually on the same wave length.      

The next night I asked my daughter to start the orzo but, before I knew it, she had already mixed in some of the roasted peppers we had grilled the night before and prepared the dressing.  Oh dear!  I had dreamed about this recipe all day, just the way it was.  Not wanting to hurt her feelings I decided to go with the flow.  Salmon, orzo, grilled peppers...something good had to come out of this.  And it did...as a matter of fact, it was terrific and good enough to post and file.  A big part of the success was the white balsamic dressing my daughter had come up with which went better with the roasted peppers and perfectly complimented the peppery arugula and the Kalamata olives.  Sam's had a lemon based dressing.  This had lemon balm which, incidentally, is threatening to take over the yard!

I will make the original salad next time.  Now I am anxious to see what it tastes like with lemon and practice what I preach...Don't go changing a recipe until you have tried the original first

Whether you make Sam's original recipe or my variation with roasted peppers and white balsamic, you will come out with the perfect meal for a hot summer night or a picnic.  If you try mine, play around with the measurements.  Mix the salmon and vegetables in a bowl and start adding the orzo until you come out with a ratio to your liking.  Same with the arugula.  If when you are done you feel it needs extra olives or anything else, by all means add it!

Grilled Salmon Salad With Orzo, Arugula And Roasted Peppers

Serves 6

Like Sam,   I grilled the salmon the night before after marinading it in soy sauce, ginger and sesame oil.

Ingredients:

1 lbs. cold grilled wild salmon, flaked in large pieces
4 cups cooked Orzo, room temperature
4 roasted red, yellow and orange peppers, cut in small strips
2 large scallions, chopped
1/2 cup chopped and seeded tomatoes
1/2 cup Kalamata olives cut in half
3 TB chopped lemon balm
3 TB chopped fresh oregano or basil
2 cups of arugula

Olive oil
White Balsamic Vinegar*

Directions:

In a large bowl mix all of the ingredients and drizzle with olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Let sit for about an hour so the flavors will meld.  Drizzle the white balsamic vinegar just before you serve.  Toss and enjoy!

 *Red balsamic vinegar will give the salad a funny color thus the use of white.

Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad With A Twist...Or Two

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First of all let me tell you that macaroni salad is not one of my favorites.  No, I am in the coleslaw camp. When it comes to fried chicken, ribs, or hamburgers and there's a choice between salads there is no question which one I pick.  Not so my daughter.  She is on the macaroni salad camp.  . The problem is that there's only two of us and when we order our favorite fried chicken (yes, Lindaraxa eats other people's food sometimes) it is kind of ridiculous to order both. So I have ceded sometimes and gotten to tolerate it.

A couple of weeks ago I noticed this salad on the Williams Sonoma blog and I immediately thought of her. It looked different and delicious, a different twist on the old favorite she was so fond of. Why not surprise her.

As I reread the recipe I felt something was not quite right.  The measurements in the dressing and the rest of the ingredients seemed very skimpy for the amount of pasta involved.  There was no way that 2/3 cup of dressing was going to cover three cups of uncooked macaroni.  Not being one to change a recipe until after I have tried it, I went ahead with it and, sure enough, I was right, it was blah.  I am not one to like salads overdressed, particularly pasta salads, but the results here were not the same as those pictured in the recipe.  Another thing that had appealed to me was what looked to be a fairly even distribution between pasta and "crunch" and again, it was not there.

After tasting the final product and playing around with it at the end, I have changed quantities a bit and added a thing or two, including 1 teaspoon of sweet pickle relish at the end.  You be the judge but do try it, the flavor is simply delicious.  The olives and pickles are a stroke of genius.  It would be a standout at any outdoor event, including next weekend's Father's day.  One thing you can do is cook the three cups of pasta and reserve one to mix at the end in case you feel it needs it.

A great pairing with pulled pork sandwiches!

Make the salad at least a day ahead to help the flavors meld.  It keeps well for a few days in the refrigerator and improves with time.

As a further endorsement, we have now found a macaroni salad we both enjoy and the recipe has gone into the keepers file.  We were still eating it four days after Labor Day!

Old-Fashioned Macaroni Salad With a Twist...Or Two

2 cups (10 1/2 oz./330 g.) elbow macaroni*(I used Barilla)

Salt and freshly ground pepper

For the dressing:

1/3 cup (3 fl. oz./80 ml.) mayonnaise

1/4 cup (2 oz./60 g.) sour cream

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1-2 tsp. sweet pickle juice

1/2 white onion, finely chopped

3 celery ribs, finely chopped, leaves reserved and finely chopped

3 sweet pickles, finely chopped
1/2 red pepper chopped (optional)

2 hard-cooked eggs, chopped

1/2 cup (2 1/2 oz./75 g.) pimiento-stuffed green olives, chopped

1/2 bunch fresh chives, snipped

1 tsp. sweet pickle relish (optional)

Bring a pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium, add the macaroni, and cook until tender, according to package directions. Drain and rinse under cold running water and set aside to drain.

To make the dressing, in a serving bowl, combine the mayonnaise, sour cream, mustard, pickle juice, 1/2 teaspoon pepper and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Stir to mix well.

Add the onion, celery and pickles and stir to mix again. Add the macaroni and turn to coat. Add the hard-cooked eggs, green olives and celery leaves and turn once again. Taste and adjust the seasoning with salt, if needed.  Add the teaspoon of sweet pickle relish if you want.  Transfer to a serving bowl, garnish with the snipped chives, and serve. Serves 6.

*Original calls for 3 cups

Adapted from the original recipe, Old Fashioned Macaroni Salad With Sweet Pickles by Georgianne Brennan for Williams Sonoma

All photos Lindaraxa