Grilled Salmon with Potato & Watercress Salad
Submitted by angie2002
Grilled salmon with potato and watercress salad, a smoky indirect-grilled salmon served over pickled red onion potato salad and peppery watercress. Low-fat summer dinner for six.
YIELD
6 servingsPREP
60 minCOOK
20 minREADY
80 minGrilled salmon with potato and watercress salad is a summer plate that eats cold or hot. Salmon glazed with soy and brown sugar cooks low and slow on indirect heat, picking up smoke without drying out, while a pickled red onion potato salad and peppery watercress do the supporting work on the platter.
The indirect grilling method matters. Laying the salmon on a piece of shaped foil off to the side of the hot coals lets the fish cook in captured smoky heat rather than searing over flames. That’s how you get that tender, barely opaque texture without a scorched surface.
Soaking raw red onion in cold water for 15 minutes is a simple step that pays off. The soak pulls out the sharp, bitter compounds that can dominate a salad, leaving behind crisp crunch and sweet onion flavor. Then they marinate in rice vinegar for a quick pickle effect.
Pro Tips
- Use a skin-on center-cut salmon fillet, the skin protects the flesh during the long indirect cook.
- Leave a 1-inch foil border that you crimp up against the fish edges so the glaze pools and caramelizes.
- Red-skinned new potatoes hold their shape best, russets fall apart in cold salad.
- Tuck the tender watercress sprigs around the platter last, the delicate leaves wilt fast under dressing.
Variations
- Swap salmon for steelhead, Arctic char, or thick trout fillets.
- Add a handful of capers or chopped dill to the potato salad for briny herbal notes.
- Substitute arugula or baby spinach for watercress if you can’t find it.
Ingredients
Directions
In a 5-to 6-quart pan, bring about 2 quarts water to a boil over high heat; add potatoes.
Cover and simmer over low heat until potatoes are tender when pierced, 15 to 20 minutes.
Drain and chill.
Soak the onions about 15 minutes in cold water to cover.
Drain and mix onions with rice vinegar.
Cut potatoes in quarters; add to onions.
Trim tender watercress sprigs from stems, then finely chop enough of the course stems to make ½ cup (discard extras or save for other uses).
Mix chopped stems on a large oval platter with potato salad alongside; cover and keep cool.
Rinse salmon and pat dry.
Place, skin side down, on a piece of heavy foil.
Cut foil to follow outlines of fish, leaving a 1-inch border.
Crimp edges of foil to fit up against edge of fish.
Mix soy sauce with brown sugar and brush onto the salmon fillet.
Lay fish on center of grill, not over coals or flame.
Cover barbecue (open vents for charcoal) and cook until fish is barely opaque in thickest part (cut to test), 15 to 20 minutes.
Transfer fish to platter with salad.
Add salt to taste. Serve hot or cold.
Comments
