Roasted Salmon Salad with Hot Ginger Vinaigrette.

You’re about to fall in love with this hot ginger salmon salad! 

Oh yes yes yes. It’s the flakiest, butteriest, most flavorful salmon on top of greens that are drizzled with hot ginger dressing.

Hot.ginger.dressing. Say it again!

I have loved hot bacon dressing for as long as I can remember. And it’s not JUST because of the bacon. I mean, but it sort of is.

This has been said on the blog ten million times, but my grandma loved (and my mom loves!) hot bacon dressing more than just about anything. There were a few places  where they would only order the spinach salad with hot bacon dressing. And it’s one of the first salads I ever fell in love with. One of the only salads I would actually eat as a kid. 

Shocking.

Sometimes I just don’t want to cook bacon. (I know, tell that to me 2011 self, OMG.)

Other times, I don’t have bacon. Like now! 

I realize that this isn’t the same thing. After all, the bacon fat in the dressing is where alllll the goodness comes in. And we don’t really have that here, exactly, but the warm ginger and garlic? Oh my gosh. It is so, so good on this salad! 

The salad is really simple. Well, it is and it isn’t. You need to cook the salmon AND the dressing, but neither take a long time. The greens are coated in the warm dressing and I could probably eat the greens and dressing alone. The salmon and almonds gives it some bulk so it’s an actual meal. Oh and texture and crunch! 

Of course.

As for the salmon – I absolutely LOVE the spice mix on this one. A little smoky and sweet. It goes with everything! And it’s just so flavorful, yet at the same time allows the salmon to shine. It creates a nice crust on the fish and allows you to keep the salad simple.

I mean, it’s SO simple. In fact, we’re doing romaine, kale, toasted almonds and roasted salmon. Then drizzled with the hot ginger dressing.

Easy as pie. (I wish I had pie.)

It’s simple enough that you can add in anything else you have in the fridge. I think some blanched green beans would be delish in here. Or even snap peas. Make it a clean out the fridge meal if you want. 

The salmon is great cold too, meaning this is awesome for leftovers! You can easily reheat the dressing. However, it’s fine cold from the fridge too. And since it doesn’t have the bacon fat, it won’t be solid. 

Now that looks like a SALAD.

This is a delish dinner, a great lunch idea, perfect for this warmer months and an overall light option if you’re just not super hungry. You could pair it with something else or serve it alone. And my favorite idea: bundle the entire salad up in a wrap! I love meals like that.

It’s the best.

Hot Ginger Salmon Salad

Salmon Salad with Warm Vinaigrette

Yield: 2 people

Prep Time: 15 minutes mins

Cook Time: 20 minutes mins

Total Time: 35 minutes mins

This ginger salmon salad has the flaky, flavorful roasted salmon on top of kale and romaine, drizzled with warm ginger vinaigrette.

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Ingredients

• 1 pound salmon
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed light brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon pepper
• 4 cups chopped kale
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• ⅓ cup roasted, salted almonds, chopped

hot ginger dressing

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 small shallot, diced
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 ½ tablespoons red wine or apple cider vinegar
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• ¼ to ⅓ cup olive oil

Instructions 

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Place the salmon on a baking sheet. Stir together the brown sugar, salt, paprika, coriander, garlic powder and pepper. Rub the spice mix all over the top of the salmon.
• Roast the salmon for 12 to 15 minutes, or until it flakes easily with a fork and is opaque.
• While the salmon is roasting, place the kale in a large bowl. Drizzle with the 1 teaspoon of olive oil and massage the kale. This helps break it down and it will be less bitter. Let it sit for 10 minutes while you make the hot ginger dressing.
• To assemble the salad, toss the romaine lettuce in with the kale. Drizzle the greens with the dressing and toss. Add the salmon and almonds on top. Serve!

hot ginger dressing

• Heat a saucepan over medium-low heat and add the sesame oil. Stir in the shallot with a pinch of salt and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the ginger and garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Reduce the heat to low. Whisk in the vinegar, honey and soy sauce. Whisk in the olive oil until emulsified.
• This dressing can be refrigerated and used warm or cold! To reheat, just heat in a skillet for 1 to 2 minutes until warm.

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Author: How Sweet Eats

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I could probably drink that dressing.