Chickpea, Peppers and Trout Salad with a Creamy Dill Dressing.
A personalised take on the fresh Mediterranean flavours of Spain.
With all the remarkable dishes that have evolved in Spain throughout its long history, it’s surprising to learn that salads are not one of them.
In fact, one of their most known salads goes by the name of Russian Salad - a potato salad made of potato, peas, tuna, and cooked carrots glued together in a thick mayonnaise-like cream.
In this meat-obsessed country, pork reigns supreme and the diverse array of land and sea creatures are its retinue. I guess to be fair, a salad in Spain is not considered a main meal, but rather a side/first dish to help wash down all the animals.
When I arrived in Spain in 1997, having spent the previous few years working as a cook in Australia “designing” (for want of a better word) creative and nutritious salads, I was rather disappointed to find what passed as a salad in Spain. It mainly consisted of iceberg lettuce, tomato, olives, onion and tuna. Occasionally a hard-boiled egg. The dressing was vinegar, oil, and salt.
20 years later it wasn’t that much better, but there were bars and restaurants that were daring to push the boundaries and experiment with an extra ingredient or two. Actually, it was in one of these restaurants where I first discovered the thick sweet balsamic vinegar I was to overuse for many years after.
During my first year in Madrid, I joined the American Women’s Club who were very helpful and supportive and a refuge when trying to speak a new language became overwhelming.
One day the subject of salads came up and it turned out many of the American women had little idea how to create a decent salad either, so they asked me to give a presentation to the group.
For someone who has always struggled with public speaking, this was a major challenge for me, but I accepted and using the bountiful fresh products that Spain is famous for, put together a few of which I felt might be easy and tasty for the group to try.
I don’t remember what I made, except that one involved a lot of spinach and another, noodles and a chilli, peanut butter, and coconut milk dressing. They were suitably impressed and their reaction to the presentation inspired me to create a salad bar/business in Madrid that would open the wonderful wide world of salads to the Spanish community.
Of course, that didn’t happen because I am full of ideas that never go anywhere, but I did open the wonderful wide world of salads to my Spanish partner whose previous diet consisted of chorizo and white bread.
So, this week’s recipe is a take on the Mediterranean fresh ingredients common in Spain but with added flavours I think go well together, topped with a fillet of pan-fried trout or salmon (optional of course).
Please let me know in the comments what you think and I’d love to learn/see your fave salads.
Chickpea, Pepper and Trout (or Salmon) Salad with a Creamy Dill Dressing.
Serves 2
Ingredients for the dressing.
20g fresh dill
1 heaped tsp capers
3 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp honey
1 heaped tablespoon of soft goats cheese
1/4 cup olive oil
Throw all the ingredients in a blender except the oil. Add the oil slowly once the rest is blended to help emulsify (thicken) the liquid.
Ingredients for the salad
1 can of chickpeas or 200g soaked and cooked from dry.
1 smallish cucumber, diced
1 whole yellow pepper (capsicum) diced
1/2 red pepper (capsicum), diced
large handful of fresh spinach, washed, drained, and chopped finely
2 spring onions, chopped.
Add all the ingredients and add enough of the dressing to coat the salad ingredients thoroughly.
To cook the trout/salmon
In a frying pan, add a drizzle of olive oil and a tbsp of butter.
Cut fresh fennel into generous slices and season
Fry them in the hot pan, then drain on kitchen paper
Season the fish well and add to the frying pan, cooking on a high heat.
Once the fish is browned on one side, flip carefully to cook on the other side.
Don’t overcook the fish as it will go dry. it’s better to undercook as it will continue to cook once taken off the heat.
Place the fish over the salad and drizzle a little more of the dressing over the fish.
Garnish with a little more goat’s cheese.