Salmon BLT Salad

So we finally got our annual dumping of snow and ice…

…and the entire North side of the state is under a state of emergency.  Wanna know how much snow we got?  Maybe 1/16th of 1/16th of a inch.  Seriously.

But in our defense, before Snowpocalypse 2015 hit we got a pretty substantial layer of ice over everything.  It surrounds our trees and power lines and creates a real mess, especially when the trees become top-heavy and come crashing down into our yard in the middle of the night.  If you didn’t get a chance to see my Instagram post, you can here.  We were lucky but many of us were without power for several days, which is hard to manage when it’s in the single digits.

Now before you start rolling your eyes at me, I was the one who drove into work back in 1993 when we were hit with a foot of snow.  Because I’m secretly a Yankee.  These Southerners have no idea so don’t tell anyone.  I was born in Michigan, where my grandfather used to dig snow tunnels for me in his front yard.  I know snow.  I’m not afraid of it.  You won’t find me stocking up on supplies for French Toast (eggs, milk and bread) at the first whisper of an icy forecast.

So while the weather continues to play games, I’m sticking to my guns about eating a little better this start of the year.  Not to lose any weight (Who am I kidding?  There’s a few Christmas cookies I still need to get rid of) but more to clean out and get back on the right track.

The inspiration for this recipe came purely from the half-eaten leftovers of my daughters the previous night.  While I applaud that fish is a favorite for the both of them, they cannot finish a meal for anything.  Of course, with me being a stay-at-home mom, the sole responsibility to finish leftovers lies with me.  My husband won’t touch them.  I can only sometimes pass them off on the toddler, and the teenagers don’t like what I serve when it’s fresh and warm, so why would they eat a second-day meal???

With this salad on my mind, I almost starting encouraging the girls not to finish their meals.  Almost.  (Well, okay, I may have said something along those lines.)

This Salmon BLT Salad is almost too easy.  The only cooking you need to do is a few pieces of bacon.  Now, I know the recipe calls for two strips of bacon which, for some of us, seems like not enough.  And I say, YOU’RE RIGHT.  So as not to worry any of you fine readers, rest assured that two slices of bacon were shown in the picture so you wouldn’t think I’m a complete bacon junkie (which I am).  I mean, if it were up to me I would call this salad a Bacon BBB Salad, because bacon is clearly the star of the show.  Can we just throw bacon in a bowl and call it a salad?

Feel free to make your own substitutions.  My goal here was to use up what we had laying around: lots and lots of spinach, a juicy tomato, avocado because it’s awesome with everything, and bacon because, need I say more?  And while I was able to use leftover salmon, feel free to use canned salmon, if that’s what butters your bread.

The dressing is a simple adaptation of a basic Paleo mayonnaise dressing that you can find almost anywhere.  Since you always see some type of dill sauce on top of salmon, I figured it would be the best type of dressing for the salad.  And it came out perfect!  With just the right flavor of Dijon, lemon and dill it perfectly complimented the fish and gave it a light dressing flavor.  This is a light salad so a heavy dressing just wouldn’t do.

So please keep us in your prayers as Georgia recovers (cough, cough).  On the bright side, the tree that fell will give our yard more sunlight for my garden that I’m still dreaming over.  Maybe THIS will be the year I actually get to planting!

Salmon BLT Salad

Author: Christine @ The Paleo Baker

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 5 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 1

Ingredients

• [i]For the salad:[/i]
• 1-2 cups spinach, or leafy green of your choice
• 1/2 cup salmon, either pieces or whole
• 2 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
• 1/2 cup tomato, chopped
• 1/2 cup avocado, chopped
• [i]For the dressing:[/i]
• 1/2 cup prepared Paleo mayo (see recipe below)
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1 Tbs minced fresh dill
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• [i]For the Paleo mayo:[/i]
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 Tbs lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup olive oil

Instructions

[i]For the salad:[/i]

1. Fry bacon to desired doneness in a frying pan. Place spinach or lettuce into the bowl. Add the salmon, bacon, tomato and avocado on top. Pour dressing over the top of the salad and enjoy!

[i]For the dressing:[/i]

1. Add mayo, almond milk, dill, garlic powder and salt and pepper into a food processor. Process until fully combined.

[i]For the mayo:[/i]

1. Add the egg and lemon juice into a food processor and process for 30 seconds, or until egg is whipped. Add the salt and dijon mustard and process until combined. While processing in the Dijon and salt, add olive oil a small amount at a time and continue until the oil is fully incorporated into the mayonnaise.

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