Pasta Salad with Salmon

Since I've been writing this blog I frequently seem to find myself saying "When I was younger I didn't eat X, Y or Z". Goodness, I didn't realize just how picky I was, and I'm beginning to think that it might be, my fault (just a teensy eensy bit...) that my kids are fairly picky as well. Salmon is another one of those foods that I wouldn't have touched 10 years ago but I can't get enough of now.

Try as I might, I don't always have the time to make a decent from scratch dinner with my full time afternoon chauffeuring job seeming to get into the way as I make my rounds in Carlsbad to soccer, dance and surf pick up and drop offs. As such, I'm always on the lookout for an item that helps me manage my time in the evenings but is still a good quality, and tasty as well. One of our favorite "go to" items on a busy night is Morey's Marinated Wild Salmon that I found at my local Costco. (Morey's has not idea that I'm writing anything about them, but I wanted to pass this info on to anyone else looking for an extraordinarily tasty wild salmon that is ready to go!). 6 individually packaged fillets per box wait to simply be unwrapped, thawed and cooked. Easy peasy on a weeknight without much time for cooking. I set the rice on to cook, pop the fish on the grill, toss together a quick salad and we have dinner in no time!

Last night after driving to dance and soccer this is exactly what I did! 3 perfectly grilled salmon fillets were ready for dinner when my son politely informed me that he really wasn't hungry as he had made himself the most "amazingly awesome" meal... all from the freezer! As he has seen me do so many times, he even took photos of his "heaven on a plate" (burritos and mini pizzas from Trader Joe's).

Faced with 2 leftover fillets I threw together a Pasta Salad with Salmon this afternoon for lunch. The marinated salmon worked wonderfully in the salad that was dressed with a creamy, lemon spiked dressing. Tossed with pasta, onions, peas and apple and served over a bed of greens the salad was the perfect meal, not from the freezer.

Pasta Salad with Salmon

Salmon combines with a creamy, lemon spiked dressing for a quick, tasty salad for lunch or a light dinner.

• 1/3 cup Greek-style non fat yogurt
• squeeze fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp lemon zest
• 3 Tbs low fat sour cream
• salt to taste
• 2 cups prepared and drained pasta, bowties or corkskrews work well
• 1-2 leftover salmon fillets (marinated or plain work equally as well!), cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 1/4 cup chopped red or white onion
• 1/2 apple, chopped
• salad greens
• walnuts or pepitas for sprinkling

In a small bowl combine the yogurt, lemon juice and zest, sour cream and salt. Whisk well to combine.

In a larger bowl combine the pasta, salmon, peas, onion and apple. Stir to combine. Add enough of the dressing to coat nicely, but not to be "drippy". Arrange salad greens on a plate and scoop pasta salad over the top. Sprinkle with walnuts or pepitas over the top and serve.

Remnants from one happy teenage boy!