Spring is finally here! After a long winter, we’re so excited to be able to see the grass on our lawn (yes, the small joys of life). To get ready for our Florida road trip this summer, we thought we should get back into our lean diet (Did we ever get into that diet in the first place? Who knows…). This is one of our favourite salad, and it’s packed with flavours and fun ingredients!
Growing up with Russian influence, I’ve always loved beets. My mom loves making beets soup (Borscht, for the connoisseur), and beets salad. Beets are actually very healthy, and contains a lot of nutrients while having a very low calorie count. It is a pain to cook and peel, but many groceries sell them pre-cooked if you’re feeling lazy. I personally either boiled them in water for 45 minutes, but you can also steam them using a pressure cooker if you’re in a rush.
I love adding hearts of palm and artichoke quarters to my salad, I find they add interesting textures. They are both crunchy, but yet a little creamy. We were inspired to add these two ingredients by our favourite salad at one of our go-to family-friendly restaurant. If you’re ever in Montreal, you have to try the Fried Chicken salad at Baton Rouge.
Alvin loves fish and he’s been begging me to add more of it to our diet. It’s not that I don’t like fish, but I never crave it. However, I do love salmon and one of my favourite way to cook it is to bake it! If you have ever cooked salmon, you know that it can stinks up your whole kitchen and the smell lingers for hours! Stop doing that to yourself, and bake your salmon. We like to keep it simple, so we usually simply add olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper. Top this salmon on your salad, and you’ve got yourself a healthy, easy, and satisfying meal!
If you’re into salads, try these other recipes:
Smoked Salmon Salad with Cilantro Lime Vinaigrette
Avocado Crab Salad with Asian Sesame Dressing
Easy and Healthy Spring Salad with Baked Salmon
Ingredients
- 3 medium-sized beets cooked, sliced
- 1 english cucumber cubed
- 1 can artichoke quarters sliced
- 1 can hearts of palms sliced
- 1 Avocado sliced
- 8 cups spring mix pre-washed
- 200g fresh salmon filet
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 4 tbsp olive oil for baked salmon
- 2 tbsp lemon juice for baked salmon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 5 tbsp olive oil for salad dressing
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 tbsp lemon juice for salad dressing
- 1 tsp honey
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line aluminum foil on baking sheet.
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Mix minced garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper together in a bowl. Cut salmon fillet in two, and pour over mixture. Bake salmon for 8 minutes, or until the salmon flakes easily with a fork.
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In a big serving bowl, mix the spring mix, diced cucumbers, artichoke quarters, diced hearts of palm, sliced avocado and sliced beets.
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In another bowl, whisk together the dijon mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, honey until the salad dressing becomes creamy.