Barbecued salmon with cherry, cucumber and mint salad
35 min · 39 g protein · 318 cals / serving
A cool, bright centrepiece for a hot Christmas Day: a side of salmon cooked on the barbecue until just flaking, then served warm or cold with a salad of sweet December cherries, crunchy cucumber, rocket, red onion and lots of mint in a sharp lime dressing, plus a bowl of lemony dill yoghurt.
Ingredients
Salmon
- 1 1/3 lb sockeye salmon, one side of wild salmon, skin on, pin-boned
- 1 tsp olive oil
- zest of 1/2 lemon lemon zest
- 1/3 tsp salt
- a few grinds black pepper
Dill yoghurt
- 3/4 cup + 1 tbsp nonfat Greek yogurt, Greek yoghurt
- a small handful fresh dill, chopped
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 small clove garlic, grated
Cherry salad
- 2 cups cherries, pitted and halved
- 2 Lebanese cucumbers cucumbers, halved and sliced
- 2 handfuls arugula, rocket
- 1/2 small red onion, very thinly sliced
- a big handful fresh mint, leaves picked
- juice of 1 lime lime juice
- 2 tsp olive oil, extra virgin
- 1 pinch salt
Steps
- Heat a barbecue with a hood to medium-high (about 390°F). Pat the salmon dry, rub the flesh side with the oil, lemon zest, salt and pepper, and lay it skin-side down on a sheet of baking paper on the grill. Close the hood and cook for 12–15 minutes, without turning, until the flesh flakes at the thickest point and reaches 145°F. Slide it onto a platter.
- Stir the yoghurt, dill, lemon juice, garlic and a pinch of salt together and spoon into a bowl.
- Just before serving, toss the cherries, cucumber, rocket, red onion and mint with the lime juice, olive oil and a pinch of salt.
- Pile the salad over and around the salmon and serve warm, or chill the salmon for a few hours and serve it cold, with the dill yoghurt on the side.
Good to know
No barbecue?
Roast the salmon on a lined tray at 390°F (355°F fan, 400°F) for 12–15 minutes. It is just as good, especially served cold.
Can I cook it the day before?
Yes: cook, cool and refrigerate the salmon covered for up to 2 days, then bring it out 20 minutes before serving. Make the yoghurt ahead too, but dress the salad at the last minute so the rocket stays crisp.
Can I use Tasmanian (Atlantic) salmon?
Yes. It is the usual Christmas side in Australia and is richer and more buttery, at about 59 instead of 73. Cook it the same way; it stays moist a little longer on the grill.
Out of cherry season?
Ripe mango, cut into chunks, works beautifully with the cucumber and mint and gives about the same score. Nectarines are good too.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 91
- Protein
- (49%)
- 11 g
- Fat
- (30%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (22%)
- 5 g
- of which sugar
- 4 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 122 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1271 kcal goes into the pot and 1520 g of ingredients comes out as about 1400 g of food: 91 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.