Easy Salmon Salad (paleo, AIP)

Happy Aloha Friday, everyone!

Most weekdays, Felix and I have our little routine of going out in the morning for a playdate or a trip to our neighborhood park, and I usually sprinkle some errands in there too.  Today, I had a follow up appointment with my opthamologist to check in about some ongoing eye irritation I've been dealing with.  Unfortunately, it hasn't resolved yet, but we're working on it.  We headed to the park afterwards for some hide and seek, playground time, and bubble blowing, and when we got home I fed Felix a quick lunch of marinated chickpeas, green peas, and green beans- all leftovers from yesterday's dinner.  While I got him down for his nap I thought about what I was going to eat for lunch, and decided on one of my old standby's: Salmon Salad.  I've been making this probably once a week lately, and today's batch turned out so delicious that I just had to share.

It's a simple, but tasty recipe that you can easily make your own by using whatever you have in the fridge.  If you don't like salmon, try using tuna fish instead, or even shredded cooked chicken.  Fresh parsley, arugula, or even spinach make a great substitute for the cilantro, and if you have capers or green olives in your fridge or pantry, chop some up and add them to the mix.  Kalamatas would be yummy in this salad too.  I ate my salmon on a bed of raw kale because I had some already washed and ready to go in the fridge, but you can pile it on top of any greens that you'd like.  It would also be great over a heap of diced cucumber or shredded carrots and beets.  For a satisfying crunch, I included a side of plantain chips, and polished it all off with a few squares of my homemade strawberry lime fruit snacks.  Healthy and satisfying!

INGREDIENTS:

1 6 oz can of wild Alaskan salmon, juices intact (I use the one from Costco)

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro

scant 1/4 cup chopped scallions

juice of 1 lemon, reserving 1 tbsp for the kale

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus 1 tbsp for the kale

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp Himalayan pink salt or sea salt, more or less to taste

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

2-3 cups raw kale, washed, dried, and cut into bite size pieces

optional: 1-2 tbsp chopped capers or 3 tbsp chopped olives

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a medium sized storage container, mix the can of wild salmon (including the juices), cilantro, scallions, lemon juice, olive oil, turmeric, salt, and capers or olives if you are including them.  Set aside.

2. Place the kale in a salad bowl (I use a larger plate-bowl), drizzle the reserved 1 tbsp of lemon juice and 1 tbsp olive oil on top, and then gently massage the kale to break down the tough fibers and distribute the dressing evenly.

3. Put a hefty scoop of the salmon salad on top of your kale (I use about half of the prepared salmon mix), then drizzle everything with 1 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar.

4. Enjoy your Easy Salmon Salad as is, or with a side of your favorite crunchy chips!

These are my favorite chips.  If you live in Honolulu, you can find them at Kokua Market.  I've also seen them on Amazon, and Inka Chips are another brand that I like, but they aren't as light and airy as the Turbana brand:

And here's a pic of Felix from a little trip to the beach this past Monday morning.  He loves to get wrapped up in a towel and eat snacks.  I think that day we snacked on frozen blueberries and homemade strawberry lime fruit snacks:

That's all for now.  Have a really wonderful weekend!

Aloha,

Fauzia