Thai Salmon Salad Bowls

Thai Salmon Salad Bowls are quick, easy and customizable. Make them for a speedy weeknight dinner or flavorful, veggie-packed lunch!

The past week was pretty rocky in my life. Last Friday we celebrated my man spouse's birthday, but I could feel that I was getting sick. We had an awesome time, but hosting a party and staying up late certainly didn't help me feel any better. For five days I struggled with fogginess and sinus pressure. And here I was hoping to avoid sickness all winter!

Then I made a major mistake while working on new recipes last weekend. I didn't eject my SD card after importing photos and corrupted the files. What, you thought that was a 90's issue that we were all past? Do you even remember ever having to eject USBs or other external media before taking them out of your computer?

Well, my fellow photographers will (hopefully) understand the issue. I had almost 59 GB of pictures on that SD card, including pictures for three new recipes, and suddenly all files were inaccessible. UGH.

Fortunately, I figured out how to recover the files. The downside is that it's a 48+-hours-long process. I finally got that started, realized how long it would take, already feeling "meh" due to being sick... I decided fuck-all, I'm taking a social media/blog break until I feel better and I have my pictures back.

Honestly it was a great idea. I'm feeling a little better, my files are recovered, and now I get to post the recipe for Thai Salmon Salad Bowls. Huzzah!

I intentionally made these salad bowls simple, simple, simple so they're easy to whip together on busy nights (or nights I don't feel like cooking). In my world, salad bowls start off with a huge portion of kale—I guess you could alternatively call this recipe a "Big Ass Salmon Salad" or something like that. I mean, let's be real. If I'm eating a salad I'm going to eat a fucking salad. No measly portions on my plate. Let's pile on the veggies.

So we start with kale, massage it with some olive oil so it's not so tough, and toss it in a simple dressing that doubles as a glaze for the salmon. Slice up some veggies and fan them out on the kale, rest that pan-fried salmon on the ensemble, and drizzle the whole thing in an addicting, citrusy almond butter drizzle.

To my surprise, my man spouse even gobbled this up. (Typically, he won't touch greens. I'm wearing him down.)

Okay, so you might notice that the recipe calls for red cabbage, but the photos don't show it. What. The. Heck. Well, the first time I made these salad bowls, I added thinly sliced red cabbage. See below.

Pretty, right? Of course, when I remade the bowls and re-photographed the recipe, I forgot the cabbage. Whomp whomp. But I like the newer pics better.

Anyway, one thing I like about this recipe is that it's customizable. I forgot the cabbage because I didn't have it on hand - does that mean I ruined the recipe? Not one bit. Sure, that wouldn't be okay for a lot of recipes (but in reality, we all make subs and exclusions on the fly when following a recipe, even when we know it will probably change the outcome). The veggies are a central part to these thai salmon salad bowls, but feel free to make swaps to fit your veggie tastes.

Thai Salmon Salad Bowls

📖 Recipe

Thai Salmon Salad Bowls

• Author: Chelsea at Do You Even Paleo
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 7 minutes
• Total Time: 17 minutes
• Yield: 2 servings 1x
• Category: Entree
• Method: pan-fried
• Cuisine: Thai

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Ingredients

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• 5-6 cups roughly chopped kale
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• ½ cup julienned carrots (alternatively, you can make carrot ribbons using a vegetable peeler)
• 1 thinly sliced red bell pepper
• ¼ cup thinly sliced red cabbage
• 2 tablespoons chopped toasted cashews (optional)
• 2 (4 ounce) wild Atlantic salmon fillets

For the Dressing:

• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• ½ tablespoon rice vinegar
• ½ tablespoon coconut aminos
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon sesame seeds

For the Almond Butter Drizzle:

• 2 tablespoons creamy almond butter
• 2 teaspoons coconut aminos
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• ½ teaspoon grated fresh ginger

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Instructions

1. Combine all dressing ingredients in a small bowl. Whisk until smooth.
2. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil over chopped kale in a large bowl. Using your hands, gently knead the oil into the kale until the kale is completely coated and is no longer stiff. Drizzle half the dressing onto the kale and toss to coat.
3. Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.. Add salmon fillets, skin side up, to the skillet and cook for 3 minutes. Flip the fillets, brush with the remaining dressing, and continue to cook for 3 to 4 minutes until cooked through.
4. Meanwhile, add all of the almond butter drizzle ingredients to a small bowl. With a fork or spoon, stir until it’s completely smooth. It should be fairly thick. If you’d like it thinner so it’s easier to pour, add a little more sesame oil. Otherwise, I got the neat “drizzle” by spooning the mixture into a zip-top bag, snipping the corner, and squeezing the mixture out onto the salad bowls.
5. To assemble the salads, divide the kale evenly between two bowls (depending on the size of your bowls, you might have extra kale/veggies). Divide the sliced vegetables between the two bowls. Add a salmon fillet to each bowl. Sprinkle with toasted cashews. Drizzle the almond butter mixture over each bowl. Enjoy!

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Keywords: Thai Salmon Salad Bowls

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