No, we didn’t have it as a starter course. It was served as a main course with bread on the side. It is a very filling salad, I tell you. The potatoes provide bulk, the salmon as the protein component is more than satisfactory, and the dressing… Ahhh, the dressing is really something else.
Is the salad easy to make? Yes. Is the process a fast one? Yes, actually. BUT there’s the matter of cooling. You need to cool the potatoes, salmon and eggs before tossing them with the dressing.
Start by peeling potatoes and cutting them into bite-sized cubes. Boil water with plenty of salt, place the potato cubes in a strainer that can fit into the pan, then lower the strainer into the boiling water. Ten minutes of cooking and the potatoes are soft but still firm enough not to lose their shape when tossed with the dressing.
Why the strainer? For convenience. Just lift the strainer, set on a plate and leave the potato cubes to cool. Without the strainer, the contents of the pot — potatoes and water — will have to be poured into a strainer. That can damage the shape of the potatoes (they are always softer along the edges) and a total waste of water which you can use to cook the eggs.
Keep the water in the pot boiling then lower in the eggs. Turn off the heat, cover the pot, and leave the eggs to cook for twelve minutes. Scoop the eggs out immediately to prevent them from overcooking, move to a bowl filled with cold water and leave them there to cool while you broil your salmon.
What do I mean about overcooking? When boiling eggs in their shell, you can still overcook them. If left too long in hot water, a grey-greenish ring forms between the firm yolk and the white. Some say the dark ring is nothing to worry about, that it isn’t toxic or anything like that, but I do want the yolk to be just a bit underdone so I carefully count the minutes.
With the potatoes and eggs cooling, broil the salmon. I used two thick salmon steaks which I salted generously the night before. I let the fish marinate overnight in the fridge. Before peeling the potatoes, I took out the fish, patted them dry with paper towels then set the steaks on a rack to air dry for a bit.
When I was done with the potatoes and eggs, I lined a baking pan with foil, sprayed it with oil then set the salmon steaks in it. I broiled the fish in an oven toaster with the top and bottom heat on. You may also use an air fryer for this job. Ten minutes and the salmon should be fully cooked. Just let them cool for a while so that you don’t burn your fingers when breaking the flesh into chunks.
Now, make the dressing. You’ll need capers, pickle relish, pickle juice, lemon juice, grated lemon zest, grated garlic, coarsley chopped fresh dill, salt, pepper and extra virgin olive oil. There is no right or wrong formula here. While it is safe to start with equal amounts of oil and acid, you can make adjustments to suit your taste.
The barely warm potato cubes were placed in a large bowl, a third of the dressing was poured over them and everything was tossed together until all the potato cubes were glistening with the oil.
Next the salmon flesh, broken into large chunks, went on top of the potatoes, another third of the dressing was spooned in and everything was tossed together until all ingregients were evenly distributed.
What happened to the eggs? I shelled them and cut them into halves. They would have crumbled had tossed them with the potato cubes and salmon chunks. What I did was to arrange the egg halves on a plate, spoon the potato-salmon mixture around them then I drizzled the remaining dressing over the eggs.
Salmon, potato and egg salad
Ingredients
- 2 large salmon steaks (about 400 grams total weight) generously salted and left to marinate overnight in the fridge
- 3 to 4 medium potatoes peeled and cut into one-inch cubes
- salt
- 4 eggs
- oil
Dressing
- 4 tablespoons capers
- 4 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tablespoons pickle juice
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated garlic
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh dill
- salt
- pepper
Instructions
- Take the salmon out of the fridge, pat with paper towels to remove surface moisture and rest on a rack to air dry.
- In a pot, boil water with a tablespoon of salt.
- Cook the potato cubes in the salted water for 10 minutes and scoop out.
- Bring the water to the boil once more, lower in the eggs, turn off the heat, cover the pot, cook the eggs for 12 minutes, scoop out and dump into a bowl of cold water.
- Preheat your oven / toaster oven / broiler (no need to preheat if using an air fryer) to 400F.
- Spray or brush a baking pan with oil, arrange the salmon in the pan and broil for 10 minutes. Cool.
- Make the dressing by whisking all the ingredients together.
- Place the cooled potatoes in a mixing bowl, add a third of the dressing and toss.
- Peel the eggs and cut into halves.
- Discard the fish bones and break the flesh into chunks.
- Add the salmon chunks to the potatoes, drizzle in another third of the dressing and toss.
- Arrange the egg halves on a plate.
- Spoon the potato-salmon mixture around them.
- Drizzle the remaining third of the dressing over the eggs.
- Optionally, sprinkle in more chopped dill before serving.
