While I definitely tend toward warmer dishes in winter, sometimes the craving for a salad kicks in. Maybe it’s the unseasonably mild January we’re having (oh hi there, climate change ????) but I decided to divert from my usual soup making this weekend and opted for a salad I could meal prep and eat throughout the week. After looking through my Pinterest page for some inspiration, I settled on a salmon, kale, and beet salad with orange miso vinaigrette.
It includes some of my favorite winter veggies and makes good use of the wild-caught salmon I have in my freezer. I’m always managing to forget about salmon. My freezer is pretty full of gorgeous wild salmon from a fishing trip my husband took this last summer. I really love salmon and not just because it’s so nutrient-dense. It’s just so flavorful and (when I haven’t overcooked it) has the most gorgeous texture.
While for this recipe I slow-roasted the salmon to ensure it didn’t overcook, the nice thing about using salmon in a meal-prepped salad is that even if you have overcooked it a touch (which I do more often than I care to admit) it’s barely noticeable because you’re eating the salmon cold. Plus, once you top this salmon, kale, and beet salad with a delicious dressing like the orange miso vinaigrette used in this recipe, you honestly won’t even notice it’s a tad overdone. A “trick” I’ve learned that’s come in very handy.
Salmon, Kale, And Beet Salad With Orange Miso Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- ½ -1 lb salmon filet
- Olive oil
- Salt & pepper
- Garlic powder optional
- 1 bunch kale shredded
- 2-3 baby bok choy shredded
- 1-2 red beets peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 1 handful parsley roughly chopped
- 2 oranges cut into segments
Vinaigrette
- 4 tbs olive oil
- 2 tbs orange juice
- 1 tbs rice vinegar
- 2 tsp miso paste
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbs sesame seeds
- 2-3 scallions white and green parts chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275° F. Pat salmon filet(s) dry and place in a shallow baking dish. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a bit of garlic powder, if desired. Place in oven and roast for 25-35 minutes, until thickest part of salmon becomes light pink and flakes easily.
- While salmon is cooking, combine shredded kale, bok choy, beets, and parsley in a large bowl. Toss to combine, then add orange segments and toss again gently so as not to mash the oranges.
- Combine dressing ingredients in a glass jar and shake vigorously to combine.
- You have a couple options on how to serve the salad. You can either toss the salad with the dressing all at once if serving immediately. Or you can serve the dressing on the side if you’re meal prepping.
- Once the salmon is done, you can either serve it warm on top of the salad or let it cool completely in the fridge and then break it up and toss it with the rest of the salad ingredients. I like tossing everything but the dressing together and then bringing the dressing on the side for lunches so the salad doesn’t lose its delicious crunch.
Want more salad inspiration? Check out these recipes!