Easy salmon salad rice bowls with fluffy yellow rice, tons of fresh veggies and a creamy curry sauce that will rock your plate!
When the Marine is away the blogger gets to play!
Well, sorta.
I have a few coping mechanisms that help me feel better about the extreme awfulness otherwise known as a military deployment. Some are normal and some are… well, a little odd.
Wearing his T-shirts and boxers around the house? Totally normal! Sniffing his old, perpetually jet fuel-soaked flight suits when I open his closet? A bit insane! I’ve also amped up the me-time with my spankin’ new fitness regimen including spinning, power pump, and yoga, reading everything in sight, decorating the new house, painting, and of course, blogging!
I’ve also moved past the single-gal tendency to eat things like pizza or cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and set a goal to make at least one fancy-schmantzy meal for myself each day.
So even though I had my go-to granola and greek for breakfast and a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for dinner, my rockin’ lunch was dressed to impress!
Easy Salmon Salad Rice Bowls
This sensational salmon salad is great with grilled or baked salmon! You can even sear it stove-top.
Easy Salmon Salad with Creamy Curry Dressing
Easy salmon salad rice bowls with fluffy yellow rice, tons of fresh veggies and a creamy curry sauce that will rock your plate!
Ingredients
- 1 wild Alaskan salmon filet (fresh or frozen)
- 1/2 cup of yellow saffron rice
- lettuce (romaine, spring mix, etc...)
- sliced tomatoes
- crumbled feta
- oil for searing
- garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, paprika salt and pepper, to taste
YUMMY VEGGIE ADD ONS:
- sliced avocado or guacamole
- asparagus spears
- black olives
CREAMY CURRY VINAIGRETTE:
- 3 TBSP fresh or store bought mayo or plain yogurt
- 1/2 tsp of curry powder plus more to taste
- 1/2 tsp of white vinegar
- a pinch of mustard powder [optional]
- a pinch of garlic and onion powder
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
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For the yellow rice, grab a store-bought packet or whip up your own! Combine 1/2 cup rice [bonus points if you use brown!] with 1 cup of vegetable broth, and a pinch of salt, pepper, turmeric, garlic + onion powder and a few strands of saffron and cook rice as per usual. Unless you're using microwave rice, this will take exactly 20 minutes for fluffy fragrant rice.
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Next move on to the salmon.
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Season both sides with garlic powder, onion powder, turmeric, paprika salt and pepper. Feel free to sneak in a little cayenne pepper into the mix for a kick! [I can't help but add it to everything!]
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Pop the salmon on the grill or try out this sear-bake combo: preheat your oven or toaster oven to 450 F. Pour a little bit of oil into a pan and wait for it to heat up. Once hot, add salmon and sear on both sides for approx 2 minutes each. With a spatula, move the salmon to a foil lined baking sheet and bake for approximately 5-10 minutes depending on thickness. You should notice a delish golden crust on the outside and a tender flaky inside.
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For the sauce, whisk together mayo [or yogurt!], vinegar and spices and serve room temperature. You can dip your fork in it and then dig in to your chop chop or go ahead and drizzle it all over the place. Its divine!
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In a nutshell -- cook the rice, then the protein, chop veggies, crumble cheese and get your layer on! I opted for green, then rice, more greens, veggies, salmon, creamy curry sauce, and a light dusting of feta cheese on top.
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Commence faceplant.
This dish is the long lost twin of my original chop-chop-inspired creation and pretty much rocks my world!
I make these rice-bowl-meets-salad hybrids all the time (chicken for Paul and veggies for moi) but why I waited so long to put a salmon spin on the dish… I’ll never know! I’m already planning on making it again this week!
It’s SO good!
The salmon had the perfect flavor-packed crust to it with a tender flaky middle and was absolute perfection paired with the crisp veggies, warm, fluffy rice and creamy curry sauce. No more boring salmon! Ever!
If you get a chance to try this easy salmon salad, let me know! Leave some love in the comment form below or tag your photos with @peasandcrayons on Instagram so I can happy dance over your creation! I can’t wait to see what you whip up!
Kristen
I made this and I LOVED IT! I altered it a little but not too much 🙂
http://happinessis18differentcolors.wordpress.com/2012/06/25/salmon-salad-with-creamy-curry-vinaigrette/
Lena
What a great vinaigrette recipe! I’m going to have to bookmark this to try with other spices for my salads as well — I really like the idea of using yogurt instead of anything oil-based.
alyce culinary thymes
The curry vinaigrette sounds de-lish.
Julia Mestas
I like your rule of one fancy schmantzy meal a day. In fact, I’ve started to try and implement that myself. Today I’m driving home for lunch to make a fancy little lunch and I might just have to make the curry vinaigrette to dump over whatever it is I end up making. It looks so good!
Jenn @ Peas and Crayons
lol Annie make this one: http://peasandcrayons.com/2012/01/restaurant-recreations-chicken-kitchen.html
Sara Stewart
Oh my gosh, Jenn, this salad looks AMAZING!! It’s so going to be dinner tonight! I think I have everything I need. Thanks for the inspiration…I want to eat it right now! xoxo
Corina
I love the sound of the yoghurt dressing on this. Because of the combination of rice, protein and vegetables it make the perfect balanced meal.
Stephanie @ Eat. Drink. Love.
I think it’s a great idea to treat yourself to a good meal every day! And this looks delish and I love the dressing!
Ladies Holiday
Can’t wait to try the vinaigrette…also your step by step collage is super!
the food dude
Awesome salad, looks really delicious!
Hannah
This looks so amazing! I’ve got a freezer full of salmon that I’ve been looking for different ways to cook and this is just what I need…thanks!!
Kiri W.
Sounds like a great salad!
How long is deployment? I go craaazy when my wife is away… she used to work as a camp counselor over the summers and I was a picture of misery.
Bloggy
Extreme;y delicious and tasty. Again a quick recipe, this is the best part of it.
[email protected]
The chop chop looks fantastic, but I am completely sad that P has been deployed. Is it for a year or is he blessed with something shorter?
Blonde Glambition
This meal looks delicious, well minus the salmon, but I could always try a substitution. I’m going to add this to my deployment meal idea list 🙂
Kay
Looks delish! Also, if you’re looking for new books without spending a fortune, try paperbackswap.com. It’s a great way to get rid of old books and get some new ones– I’ve become mildly addicted. =)
Andi
When my hubby was in the military I was fortunate that he only deployed once and for only 3 months but I totally understand how you are feeling! Hang in there! I ate a lot of ice cream and popcorn for dinner, this looks and sounds way better!
Lindselicious
This looks like a great salad, I love the way you put some rice in there too!
sarah k @ the pajama chef
all time favorite dressing? oh man, i gotta be about 5 years old… but ranch all the way. 🙂 i do love vinaigrettes too, so this dressing looks fantastic!
Kristen @ notsodomesticated
All-time favorite dressing … hmm, that’s tough. I’m loving a Caesar dressing I just found (Brianne’s is the brand), but I usually love just a good homemade vinaigrette. 🙂
[email protected]
such a delicious and beautiful looking salad! i love all the colors and the salmon in there sounds so good! 🙂
Margaret Murphy Tripp
That is one GORGEOUS salad and I love the curry dressing!!! Can’t wait to make this. The Mister and the girl will LOVE it, too!
Tiffany
Great post and recipe! I love making salads like this either when I am eating alone, or to share with my husband!
Emily Morris
This is exactly how I act when my husband is away. Totally love cereal but it really isn’t healthy as the one and only food group. One meal a day is a great goal. Love the salad pile on photo montage. 🙂
Susan
What a great salad dinner entree! I’ve been Weight Watcher dieting and this is right up my alley. Great nutrition and it doesn’t feel like ‘slim’ food!
Christine
Salad looks amazing!
Abby
Great attitude! The time will fly by keeping so busy. Thinking of you, I’m a military pilot’s wife too, totally get it.
Deelicious Sweets
Wow, this salad looks amazing. All of my favorite ingredients have made an appearance! Have fun playing while the cat is away 🙂
Courtney B
Um, YUM! This looks amazing. I’m always looking for new salmon recipes!! Maybe you could whip us up a recipe for tilapia, too??
Thinking of you Jen! I hope this deployment just flies by!
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