Salad Week: Grilled Salmon and Grapefruit Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

This is one of my all time favorite cookbooks. I usually love everything I make out of it and I have taken to drawing stars on the pages of the recipes to definitely make again.

Barnes and Noble

That being said...you would think that I would follow the directions a little bit more carefully then I actually did. And had I done that it probably would have prevented me from making this face. 

My vegetable face...aka my "I'm being punished" face.

Kris calls this my vegetable face. I call it, I'm being punished face. When I was little, my parents used to make me sit at the table until I was done eating all my vegetables... so sit I would and it would feel like torture. This is the face I would make while chewing. Now I still make that face when something I eat takes me back to that period of time in my life. Ugh.

As you can probably tell, I didn't really care for this salad. I was a little bit nervous going into it because it has a number of really strong elements: salmon, grapefruit and a homemade vinaigrette. I thought it would be okay though because I love all the above mentioned items. It probably would have been okay had I followed the exact directions of the book.

Here's what I did differently: 

1. Baked the salmon instead of grilling it. 

2. Used old (really really old) salmon from my freezer... fresh or newly frozen is always better 

3. Used a sparkling blood orange juice drink instead of regular blood orange juice

4. Used fresh grapefruit instead of jarred grapefruit as they recommend

The last two changes I think were okay...although I would like to try the dressing again with the regular blood OJ as opposed to the sparkling OJ. 

My main issue with the salad was the salmon. It was probably because my salmon was not quality fish and because I chose to bake it instead of grilling it. If I were to make it again, I would either bake the salmon with my other salmon recipes (with other seasonings) or grill it with their recommended seasonings. The flavor was definitely off and to be honest ruined the salad for me. It honestly smelled a little bit like a pumpkin which just isn't good. Most of my salmon was left in the bowl by the time my salad was gone. 

Here are the positives and negatives of this salad. 

Negatives: 

1. Smelled like pumpkin

2. Fish was gross

3. Took more time to make then I like to spend on any given food item (I had to thaw the salmon yesterday, get up early to prep the grapefruit/onion/dressing this morning and then cook the salmon and prepare the salad at lunch. It was the salad that never ends!) 

Positives: 

1. It was the first time in my life that I was picking through something to find broccoli and spinach rather than picking through broccoli and spinach to find something else. I was actually looking forward to the broccoli and spinach bites! 

2. The dressing was worth making again. It was relatively easy and fun to do. 

3. I got about two - three servings of fruits and vegetables from this salad

4. It looked really fancy... so if you love salmon and grapefruit it might be a good one for you to try out for entertaining purposes. :) 

So, without further ado, here is how you make it. 

Grilled Salmon and Grapefruit Salad with Blood Orange Vinaigrette

Compliments of Cooking Light

Ingredients: 

(serves 4) 

2 (6-ounce) salmon fillets

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 large Vidalia or other sweet onion, cut into 1/2 inch think slices 

Cooking spray

8 cups mixed baby salad greens

1 (24-ounce) jar red grapefruit sections, drained

Blood Orange Vinaigrette 

*I chose to add raw broccoli and sunflower seeds to this salad as well. I feel this was one of the better choices I made with this salad. The vinaigrette masked the taste of the broccoli and for me that was a very good thing. 

Blood Orange Vinaigrette Ingredients: 

1/3 cup blood orange juice

1 tablespoon minced shallots

2 tablespoons honey

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

Doesn't my shallot kinda look like a snail? Also, does anybody want some shallots? I bought way too many.

Directions: 

1. For vinaigrette combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Serving size about 3 tablespoons. 

2. Prepare grill. 

3. Sprinkle fillets with salt and pepper. Coat fillets and onion slices with cooking spray. Place fish and onion on grill rack coated with cooking spray. Cover and grill 5 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork and onion is tender. 

4. Cut onion into bite-sized chunks. Place 2 cups salad greens on each of 4 serving plates; arrange grapefruit sections, onion, and fish evenly over greens on each plate. Drizzle Blood Orange Vinaigrette evenly over salads. 

Vinaigrette, grapefruit and broccoli 

Completed salad... so pretty! 

So there ya go. Not the best, but not the worst either. A pretty middle of the road salad. How's that for a sales pitch? 

Now, if you are sitting there feeling bad for me because I ate pumpkin salmon fish today so I could participate in salad week on my blog don't feel too bad. Why? Because what goes great with salad? Sweet potato! This is a staple around my house. Kris and I can't get enough. They are delicious, nutritious and oh so delightful. 

Sweet potato chips

Here's a freebie for you because I kinda feel bad about posting a 2.5 star salad. Wash, peel and cut sweet potato. Toss in olive oil (or garlic olive oil if you have it... yum!!!) and sprinkle lightly with seasoning salt. Set oven to "broil" and pop in for 10 minutes on a baking sheet. Flip at the five minute mark. They are the best!

Don't forget to check out what Cass and Tracey are making today! I've definitely been getting some great inspiration from their salads this week! Also, I have to make a special shout out to my friend, Daisy. She is joining us in salad week and posting her photos to Instagram! Way to go Daisy! Remember, you can join in the fun, too! Leave a comment with your favorite salad or post a pic on your Facebook or Instagram. Who knows... maybe I will take my favorites from all of you and do a special post with them on Saturday.