Beet and Berry Salad with Salmon

Trying hard to get back into routine after over 2 weeks of “non normal” life. One thing I craved most about getting back to “normal” and routine was getting in my kitchen and cooking dinner. Ok aside from making fresh homemade sourdough which we did do, 4 loaves yesterday, yes 4! It wasn’t planned like that but we fed the starter, had funeral and family stuff and we missed our window so fed and had to even discard some, and ended up with 4 loaves that we baked fresh yesterday morning just in time to enjoy for Toast Tuesday breakfast. If we had jars we would have passed more starter on but we didn’t have any in the house. Since we got back late Friday night it was sushi at 10:30 for a late dinner but we were starving and it was only 8:30 back on California time and we hadn’t eaten much. Saturday was picking up the girls and grabbing dinner with my parents, Sunday a viewing and picking up dinner at 9:30 at night, and Monday was another day with the funeral and I just wasn’t in the mood to cook so sushi again. I shouldn’t say I wasn’t in the mood because I was I just didn’t have the energy, I really wish I would have because we stocked the fridge and kitchen up Saturday morning and there was so much fresh produce staring at me.

I had visions of coming home and whipping up this simple Beets & Berries Salad that was on repeat for lunch and turned dinner by adding some salmon. I thought it would be the perfect way to ease back into things and great for the first week of spring. Being sick before I left for Expo I had to put some fresh salmon I picked up in the freezer but thought it’d be perfect for when we got back home. Such a fresh and flavorful salad those in the family who want salmon can add it if they want and if you don’t it’s a great salad as is or S even likes to add in some crumbled feta or ricotta cheese. We even add a fun twist for texture with Whole Me Lemon Berry Chia Clusters, nope they’re not just for breakfast, when we didn’t have any sourdough left to make croutons and the girls weren’t in the mood for pumpkin seeds or nuts. Really though it just goes to show how simple and versatile salads like this can be and you can use what you have on hand and what you’re in the mood for.

Now the hardest part about sharing this salad and the reason I didn’t share it before leaving for California, the dressing. I know it wasn’t nailing down which combo of crunchy toppings to photograph it with, weather to photograph with or without the salmon, but the dressing! We had 3 dressings, in addition to a basic go to of just flavored balsamic or extra virgin olive oil with sea salt and pepper, that we couldn’t decide between. We did finally narrow it down to one but since the others were so close and it took us so long I also added those options. Again because you might have ingredients for others or you might want to switch things up. They are all basically the same with evoo and Dijon mustard but then you can either use a flavored balsamic like a blueberry one I love, a drinking vinegar beverage (a great chance to grab one to try if you’ve been debating it and if you don’t like it you can turn it into a salad dressing), or simple lemon juice.

We can pretty much whip up this salad anytime as 95% of the time we have fresh greens, roasted beets, and berries in the fridge and salmon in the freezer (but again it’s optional). If you food prep you can easily bake the salmon ahead of time and throw this salad together in minutes for a quick and easy healthy lunch or dinner. Even if you don’t prep it you can pull it together in about 20 minutes.

Beets & Berries Salad with salmon
Makes 4 main dish servings
12-16oz fresh salmon
sea salt and fresh ground pepper, or Trader Joe’s Everything But The Sesame Bagel Seasoning
14oz arugula
1c blueberries
8-10oz small roasted beets, quartered or sliced (used 8.8oz pkg Love Beets)
1/2c crumbled Lemon Berry Chia Clusters, optional or seeds/nuts as desired
dressing, see below for options

Dressing options:
Blueberry Mustard Vinaigrette (shown)
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (California Olive Ranch)
2 TBSP Dijon Mustard (Sir Kensington)
3-4 TBSP blueberry balsamic vinegar (Oh Olive!)

Simple vinaigrette made with drinking vinegar
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (California Olive Ranch)
2 TBSP Dijon Mustard (Sir Kensington)
1/4c lemon or blueberry drinking vinegar beverage (Pressery Blueberry Lemon or Suja Lemon Cayenne)

Simple Lemon Mustard Vinegarette
2 TBSP extra virgin olive oil (California Olive Ranch)
2 TBSP Dijon Mustard (Sir Kensington)
1/4c lemon juice

Or just extra virgin olive oil with sea salt and pepper or a balsamic vinegar.

Prepare dressing by shaking ingredients together, place dressing in the refrigerator until ready to enjoy. Preheat oven to 450F. Cut salmon into 4 filets, 3-4oz each, and place skin side down on a foil or parchment paper lined baking sheet. Season with fresh ground pepper or Trader Joe’s Everything But the Sesame Bagel Seasoning. Bake salmon for approximately 15 minutes or until done, will vary by the thickness of the salmon. While the salmon is cooking or cooling assemble salad. Toss or top arugula with berries and beets. Top with salmon, chia clusters or other optional desired toppings, and dressing. Enjoy!
Fresh and flavorful this Beet and Berry Salad with Salmon makes a quick #healthy meal! #SweatPink #wholefoods Share on X

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