Dilly Steelhead and Rice Salad
By: Adam Berkelmans
This is an easy and refreshing salad that makes for the perfect light dinner or lunch. I used steelhead, but any pink-fleshed fish will do, including any type of salmon or trout. You could even make it with canned salmon in a pinch.
Don’t sleep on the lemon zest, as it adds a brightness to this dish that will be missing otherwise. If you don’t have a zesting tool or a rasp, use a vegetable peeler to carefully remove the peel without including much white pith, then mince it finely with a knife.
I made the garlic optional in the salad, as it adds a punchiness and light heat that may not be up everyone’s alley. I’m always good for it, though!
Serves: 2
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 small steelhead fillet, 1/4lb or so (skin on or off)
- 1 teaspoon neutral oil
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
- 1 handful snap peas, trimmed (or replace with frozen edamame)
- 1 3-4” piece of cucumber, cut into quarter-moon slices
- 1 cup fresh dill (loosely packed), chopped
- 1 cup leftover rice (white, brown, or wild)
- 1 small clove garlic, minced finely (optional)
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
Preparation:
If skin-on, remove the skin, season with salt and pepper, and fry in a bit of oil until crispy. Set aside.
Add the oil to a sauté pan over medium heat. Add the fillet (cut to fit if necessary) and cook 3 minutes per side, or until just cooked through. Let cool.
Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil and throw in the snap peas. Cook for 1 minute, drain and run under cold water to stop cooking. You can just add them raw if you like too. Slice into 3-4 pieces each.
To a salad bowl, add the cucumbers, dill, rice, peas, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Break apart the fish with your hands and add it to the bowl. Toss everything together well. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.
If you cooked the skins, cut them into triangles and serve with the rice salad on plates with extra dill as garnish. Enjoy!
Get Cooking:
As always, Good luck this spring and remember to send any success pictures or stories from the field to [email protected] and you could be featured on our website or in our magazine. If this article or any of our articles have helped you become a better hunter or conservation steward, consider becoming a member of the Mule Deer Foundation or the Blacktail Deer Foundation or both. Click here to join: https://muledeer.org/product-category/membership/ or https://www.blacktaildeer.org/
Adam Berkelmans, also known as The Intrepid Eater, is a passionate ambassador for real and wild food and a proponent of nose to tail eating. He spends his time between Ottawa and a cozy lake house north of Kingston, Ontario. When not cooking, he can be found hunting, fishing, foraging, gardening, reading, traveling, and discovering new ways to find and eat food.
