Barbecue Salmon with a Quinoa and Herb Salad
Serves 6
Salmon
6 x 200 g salmon fillets, skinned and pin boned
2 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
Quinoa herb salad
1 red onion, thinly sliced
juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon olive oil
250 g (1 heaped cup) quinoa
1 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves only
1 bunch mint, leaves only
100 g (3 cups) baby rocket leaves
100 g (1 cup) walnuts, toasted and roughly chopped
2 bird’s eye chillies, seeds removed, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon ground sumac, to garnish
Tahini yoghurt sauce
250 g (1 cup) plain Greek-style yoghurt
75 g (1/4 cup) tahini (pure sesame paste)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon sea salt
Dressing
80 ml (1/3 cup) extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground sumac
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD:
To cook the salmon, heat a barbecue or ridged grill pan until hot
Sprinkle both sides of the salmon with the salt, pepper and olive oil.
Cook the salmon on the first side for a few minutes until a crust has formed.
Flip and cook for another 3 minutes or so (for rare salmon) or until almost cooked to your liking, then remove the salmon from the heat. The salmon should be undercooked at this stage as it will continue to cook while it rests.
Cover loosely with foil for at least 30 minutes.
To start making the quinoa salad, toss the sliced onion with the lemon juice and olive oil in a small bowl and set aside.
Meanwhile, bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil and cook the quinoa for about 10 minutes or until firm to the bite. Drain, rinse with cold water and drain well again. Reserve a few of the parsley and mint leaves for garnish, and roughly chop the remaining leaves, along with the rocket.
To make the tahini yoghurt sauce, in a small bowl, mix the yoghurt with the tahini, lemon juice and salt. Stir until thickened and season to taste with extra lemon and salt. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.
To finish the salad, toss together the quinoa, parsley, mint, rocket, walnuts, chilli and red onion in a large bowl. For the dressing, combine the olive oil, lemon juice and sumac and toss through the salad. Season to taste.
To serve, break up the salmon fillets into large chunks on a platter and dollop the tahini-yoghurt sauce on top. Spoon the salad around and on top of the salmon and sprinkle with the sumac.
Garnish with the extra parsley and mint leaves.
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