Maybe you are one of those 1 in 1000000 people who could eat salad all day long, but if you’re anything like me, a salad better feel pretty special if it’s going to stand in place of a full meal. There has to be crunchy, salty, and sweet…layers of flavour and all the good stuff a salad can offer. This salad checks all those boxes and more…and as a bonus, all that colour makes it pretty to look at too!

Recipe

Summer Salmon Salad with Asparagus

Ingredients

For the Salmon:

4 x 6 oz salmon (I use boneless and skinless)
2 tbsp avocado oil
2 tsp chipotle chili pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper, to taste

For the veggies:

1 small bunch of asparagus
1 sweet potato
2 tbsp avocado oil
salt and pepper, to taste

For the salad:

Fresh spring greens, washed and chopped into smaller pieces, if necessary
Goat or feta cheese
Pine nuts, toasted
Avocado, peeled, cored and sliced
Fresh blackberries, washed
Kennedy’s Salad Dressing
salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 425 F. Pat salmon dry. Season well on both sides with chipotle chili pepper, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Set aside. You’ll want your salmon to come to room temperature before cooking it!
Prepare the sweet potato by peeling and dicing (or slicing, if you have a small sweet potato like I did for these photos). Toss diced sweet potato in a bit of avocado oil. Spread on a large baking sheet, and cook in the oven for 20 minutes, turning them on the pan around the 10 minute mark.
Next, prep the asparagus by washing and then snapping off the woody ends. Discard the ends, and then break asparagus into 1-inch pieces. If you’d rather use a knife and chop them into 1-inch pieces, that works too! Drizzle with a little avocado oil and season with salt and pepper.
When your sweet potatoes have 5 minutes left to cook, heat a skillet over medium-high heat. Dab salmon with paper towel if they have become wet again. Once skillet is hot, add a drizzle of oil and after a minute or so, add the salmon to the pan, without letting the fillets touch each other. Allow them to cook, untouched for about 2-3 minutes, until there is a nice golden crust on the bottom.
At this point, your sweet potatoes should be done, so remove them from the oven, and slide them to the side to take up 1/3 of the baking sheet. Place the salmon, crust side down in the centre, and add the asparagus to the last 1/3. Cook in the oven for another 10 minutes, checking after 5 to make sure veggies aren’t burning, or if they need a toss. The salmon is done when it is opaque on the inside and easily flaked with a fork.
To assemble the salad, line the bottom of the bowl with a drizzle of dressing, then add greens, avocados, pine nuts, cheese, and blackberries. Top with asparagus, sweet potatoes and salmon. Drizzle the top with more dressing and serve!