Spinach Salad with Freekeh, Beets, Avocado & Slow Roasted Salmon

From the blog For Love of the Table

For 2 salads you will need:

A scant 1/4 cup of freekeh, rinsed

A 6 to 8 oz. chunk of salmon—skin on or off, as you prefer (the skin peels away easily after roasting)

2 large handfuls of baby spinach (about 2 1/2 to 3 oz.), large stems pinched off and discarded

1/4 of a small (4 oz.) red onion, thinly sliced, rinsed under cold running water and blotted dry

3 to 4 T. Dijon vinaigrette (see below)

1 or 2 beets, (about 6 oz. total weight), roasted, peeled, halved lengthwise, sliced thickly cross-wise and tossed with red wine vinegar to taste (1/2 to 1 t.) and seasoned with salt & pepper

1 avocado, halved, pitted, peeled and thickly sliced cross-wise

1 hard cooked egg (see note), cut into 6 wedges lengthwise

Place the freekeh in a small saucepan and cover with a cup of cold water. Add a couple of pinches of salt and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook until just tender—about 20 minutes. Drain well, shaking gently to get rid of excess water, and spread on a plate to cool. (Place in the refrigerator to speed up the cooling process, if you like.)

While the freekeh cooks roast the salmon, make the vinaigrette and gather the remaining ingredients. The salmon may be used right away or allowed to cool briefly. Break the salmon into large, random chunks.

When ready to serve the salad, place the spinach in a large bowl along with the onion and cooled freekeh. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle in a couple of tablespoons of the vinaigrette. Toss until everything is lightly coated with the dressing, adding more if necessary.

Build the salad by layering and nestling the dressed greens with all of the other elements in an attractive manner, dividing the ingredients equally between the two plates. Drizzle more vinaigrette over all, concentrating on hitting the beets, avocado and egg. Serve immediately.

Dijon Viniagrette: Place 2 T. of red wine vinegar in a small bowl and whisk in a two or three good pinches of salt. Add 2 T. Dijon mustard and whisk until smooth. Drizzle in 1/2 cup of olive oil, whisking constantly as you do. The vinaigrette should thicken and emulsify as you whisk in the oil. Taste and correct the seasoning with salt & pepper. This recipe makes 3/4 cup of vinaigrette and you will probably not even need a third of it for two salads. You can of course make a smaller amount, but this is a great basic vinaigrette to make and keep on hand in the refrigerator for dressing small dinner or lunch salads—it is versatile and tangy, and goes with a lot of different foods.

Note: If you have never made a hard cooked egg before, here’s how I do it when I am only making a few. Place the eggs in a pan just large enough to hold them in a single layer. (It’s ok if the pan is a bit bigger than this, but if it is too large the eggs will tend to overcook in the amount of time it takes to bring the water to a boil. For a small number of eggs, you will probably have to use a one quart saucepan.) Add water to the pan so that the eggs are covered by a half inch to an inch of water. Set the pan over high heat and bring just to the boil. Turn the heat off, cover the pan and let the eggs sit undisturbed for 10 to 12 minutes. I always cook an extra egg so that I can quickly peel and cut open an egg to see if it’s done to my liking. I prefer them a bit underdone—with just a trace of creaminess in the center. If the egg isn’t done, just continue to cook the remaining eggs for another minute or two…or however long you deem necessary to achieve the desired doneness. (Eat the extra ‘tester’ egg for a snack….they’re delicious and good for you.) Place the cooked eggs in cold water and peel as soon as they are cool enough to handle.

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As published on forloveofthetable.com