While I’m a bit late to the gate getting started on lenten –or any other time–FRIDAY FISH recipes, this one’s worth waiting for. I’ve been making it for a few months, though the story begins with just the vinaigrette. Ok; it’s a tish long of a story but worthwhile. Wanting to escape the traditional high-calorie olive oil vinaigrette … there are 480 calories in 1/4 cup of olive oil … I had paid close attention one day when my mentor Jacques Pépin (he doesn’t know he’s my mentor) mentioned something about using cream for a vinaigrette as it had 50 calories per tablespoon rather than the 120 for olive oil! Well, this little WW follower stood up and took notice, filing that away for posterity, but really for me. Not long afterward, making a salad, I thought about the yummy Daisy Light Sour Cream that saves my bu** so often while cooking. (I often stir a dollop into a bowl of pureed vegetable soup and skip the high-cal and fatty heavy cream too many cooks stir in at the end of cooking.) And, why, I ruminated, couldn’t I use it for a vinaigrette? If heavy cream was good enough for my man Jacques, why not light sour cream, which weighs in at 35 calories per tablespoon, for me? So, the next time I made salad, I made my vinaigrette just like always BUT — I whisked in Daisy Light Sour cream instead of extra virgin olive oil. Eureka!!! Voila!!! Bingo jingo!!! A lower-calorie, creamy vinaigrette was born. Hello, huge salads and maybe even caloric deficits.
I do not work for Daisy!!
One day, scouring my head for an interesting first course salad using what I had on hand (arugula, smoked salmon, fennel, red onion), I went ahead and gathered my ingredients, but first whisked together this new fabulous vinaigrette in the bottom of the bowl. Put all together, it was amazing.
Soon, I’d tried it out on not just us but on a few guests. It was popular. One woman had to memorize the dressing right then and there. I photographed it around the house and even outside. I love salad! It’s just taken awhile to get this special one on the blog.
SALAD DAYS…
If you’ve been around More Time at the Table for a few years (thank YOU!! I’ll soon celebrate 17 years of not-for-profit –no ads, no endless repetition of ingredients– food blogging) you’ll know I not only love salad, I’m a salad fanatic. You can even take a 3-part salad making class right here on the blog to up your greens game or to increase your health. Or just stick salad in the search box and see what comes up; it’s a lot.
And while I’m fond of all-vegetable salads, I also run with plates full of veggies but topped with a tasty protein — a popular pairing in today’s food world. Just notice how many menus include a caesar salad with 1. grilled chicken or 2. grilled salmon or 3. grilled steak. That idea works especially well for FRIDAY FISH (make that extra salmon fillet!) but also can bring dinner to the table all the faster anytime of the year. If you, say, make an extra steak or piece of chicken, and layer it over greens and/or vegetables, there’s your uber-quick dinner another night.
Then, there’s this rich, smoked salmon salad that looks something like today’s offering. It’s definitely worth making if you’ve saved some smoked salmon from an appetizer plate but it’s great to make from scratch:
This is a pretty fast, small first course salad for four, but it’s enough for two for a main course. Need more? Add a little bread with butter and a nice glass of dry Riesling or unoaked Chardonnay. Please, though: Keep the salad dressing in your back pocket to use over and over again after you try this:
Please note the vinaigrette is a separate recipe just below the salad recipe.
Smoked Salmon-Arugula Salad with Creamy Light Sour Cream Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- Creamy Light Sour Cream Vinaigrette–see separate recipe on blog
- 5 cups fresh arugula
- Kosher salt, fresh ground pepper, and crushed red pepper
- ½ large fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thinly
- ½ small red onion, sliced thinly
- 2-3 -ounces cold-smoked salmon
- ¼ cup sliced kalamata olives
- ¼ cup diced tomatoes
Instructions
- To the vinaigrette you've just made in a large bowl, add the arugula and a pinch each kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Add the fennel along with the red onion and toss well. Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed.
- Divide the salad between two (or four) cold plates and top with a strip of smoked salmon. Garnish with kalamata olives and tomatoes. Add another grind or two of pepper over salad and serve. If by chance you have any leftovers, store them overnight in a tightly covered container and enjoy them the next day. A dressed salad rarely keeps but this one is still tasty after a rest in the fridge, thought it's not quite as crisp.
Notes
Creamy Light Sour Cream Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 generous tablespoon red wine vinegar-can sub white wine vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1 large and plump clove of garlic, crushed and minced
- A good and hefty pinch each: kosher salt, fresh ground black pepper, and crushed red pepper
- 1 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard or more to taste
- 2 tablespoons light sour cream. I like Daisy brand.
Instructions
- To the bottom of a large salad bowl, add the vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Let rest a few minutes to dissolve the salt. Whisk in first the Dijon-style mustard and then the light sour cream until smooth. Taste and adjust seasonings. At this point, you’ll add the salad ingredients on top, (you can refrigerate it here, covered, for an hour before tossing) toss, garnish, and serve.
Notes
CHANGE IT UP: Include cooked, diced asparagus or green beans. Add a little thinly sliced radish or celery. Toss on a tablespoon or two of toasted pine nuts. Capers in place of olives? Consider some crumbled goat or blue cheese. Skip the smoked salmon and lay on a grilled shrimp or two. Whisk in a tiny spoonful of orange marmalade or honey for a different and not overly-sweet effect.
IF YOU LIKED THIS, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE:
FRIDAY FISH: Tuna-Asparagus Orzo Salad with Double Lemon Vinaigrette
Shrimp Arugula Salad with Louie Dressing
Chickpea-Pasta Salad with Shrimp + Feta
FRIDAY FISH: Tilapia Caesar Salad
FRIDAY FISH: Salmon, Leek, & Fennel Quiche
Salmon on Parmesan Polenta with Fresh Cherry Tomato Sauce (really popular on this blog)
NEED MORE? To easily look at a bunch of fish/seafood recipes, type Friday Fish into the subject box OR click on Fish and Seafood in the subject word cloud. You an also just type Salmon or Shrimp or Tuna, etc.
LIFE GOES ON:
So much of life turns with the seasons– those that are real and those that are manmade. After the grocery store end caps are no longer full of Super Bowl chips (later on a great sale) and the last of my halftime pinto beans are frozen, the Valentine candy arrives (later on a great sale) and I’m planning a lover’s holiday dinner. (Did you cook for Valentine’s Day?) When the Valentine candy has nearly disappeared, the bunnies and Easter baskets appear on seasonal shelves (later on a great sale) as Lent begins and my thoughts turn to Friday Fish. Meanwhile, it won’t be long before there will be hearty plants at the entrances to the stores and, even right now, my walkway daffodils are up and blooming, albeit about a month early. And though I’m just getting started for 2026 Lent, I’ve got a few fish –or at least meatless– ideas up my sleeve. I’ll get to them. We have to eat. Have patience.
Late development…. Just as I posted this, a snowstorm blew through covering the daffodils, but giving us much needed moisture…. We never stay no to moisture.
What keeps me hopping? This is the time of year when I teach an early spring cooking class for anywhere from 20-40 people and it takes a fair bit of planning, testing, and work. Takes me a day afterward to clean up and recover. Then I begin dreaming about next year. Right now, I’m also dreaming about next month’s trip to France and Spain with good friends from our wine group.
above: teaching the Mardi Gras cooking class on Shrove Tuesday — Chicken, Sausage, and Shrimp Gumbo and Bananas Foster Bread Pudding. I used the NYT recipe for the pudding but as there’s a paywall, you might want to instead look at Emeril’s version here. As always, these groups are lots of fun and we spend a good bit of time laughing, as well as eating, of course.
I don’t know about you but I’m trying not to spend all my waking hours watching news now that we have waged war on Iran. There are few words but one of them is fearful. This is scary stuff. Even for adults who’ve seen war. Another is anxious. Where does our country go from here? How can we stop this madness? A third is helpless. While it feels like there’s little any one of us can do, I know that each of us can keep on keeping on doing the things we know are good to accomplish and that bring people together so that we don’t feel isolated. We can take good care of ourselves so we are capable of what we might need to be capable of come hell or high water and so that we remain the solid folk our families and friends depend on. We can remain present and in the moment so our love is apparent and ready to share.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has“. (Margaret Mead)
Cooking and bringing folks together is something we’re all capable of doing. We shouldn’t be alone.
Cook on and on,
Alyce
Listen to “American Tune” by Paul Simon. (Click and start the youtube video. Click back on this window and read the lyrics are you listen.)
Many’s the time I’ve been mistaken
And many times confused
Yes, and I’ve often felt forsaken
And certainly misused
Oh, but I’m alright, I’m alright
I’m just weary to my bones
Still, you don’t expect to be bright and bon vivant
So far away from home, so far away from home
And I don’t know a soul who’s not been battered
I don’t have a friend who feels at ease
I don’t know a dream that’s not been shattered
Or driven to its knees
But it’s alright, it’s alright
For we lived so well so long
Still, when I think of the
Road we’re traveling on
I wonder what’s gone wrong
I can’t help it, I wonder what has gone wrong
And I dreamed I was dying
I dreamed that my soul rose unexpectedly
And looking back down at me
Smiled reassuringly
And I dreamed I was flying
And high up above my eyes could clearly see
The Statue of Liberty
Sailing away to sea
And I dreamed I was flying
We come on the ship they call The Mayflower
We come on the ship that sailed the moon
We come in the age’s most uncertain hours
And sing an American tune
Oh, and it’s alright, it’s alright, it’s alright
You can’t be forever blessed
Still, tomorrow’s going to be another working day
And I’m trying to get some rest
That’s all I’m trying to get some rest.