One of my favorites with salmon is sauteed cucumbers and dill. EASY! Just peel, seed and cube the cukes, sautee in butter, and sprinkle with some fresh minced dill. Plate the cucumbers and place the salmon on top of the cucumbers. Pretty!
One of my 'go-to' summer 'company' dinners is grilled or roast salmon with a really pungent, herb-y Italian green sauce. It also goes great with any veg's you grill along with the salmon (red/yellow peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, etc.) and is delicious with simple roast or boiled new potatoes on the side - it somehow pulls the whole meal together. My standard is the River Cafe's Salsa Verde:
1 large bunch of fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsely
1 bunch fresh basil
A generous handful of mint leaves
3 medium garlic cloves
½ cup capers (the salted variety are best when rinsed, but you can use capers in vinegar if you cut down on the vinegar and mustard in the recipe)
6 anchovy fillets
2 T. red wine vinegar
5 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 scant t. Dijon mustard
Salt and fresh-ground pepper
Pulse everything but the olive oil and mustard in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and slowly stir in the olive oil to create an emulsion. Finally, add the mustard.
I typically serve it with chopped avocados and tomatoes tossed with salt, red wine vinegar, and a drizzle of olive oil. With a side of roasted asparagus. Best summer meal!
I love that you asked this! I literally JUST wrote about this (on my very brand new blog - please don't hate me for tooting my own horn :) My two favorite sides for salmon are an avocado salsa that I got from the Legal Seafood cookbook, and a cucumber dill sauce that I/my mother/someone down the line made up. They are both super easy.
For the first, cut up an avocado (or about 1 for every 2 people) into chunks. Finely chop a bunch of green onions and a garlic clove. Mix in with a bit of lime juice, salt, and hot sauce. You can also use a hot pepper, but I really like the way the vinegar in Tabasco sets off the flavors.
For the second, finely chop (preferably in a blender, I use my baby cuisinart) 1/2 to 1 cucumber, seeds removed, and a lot of dill. Mix with yogurt, or a yogurt-sour cream blend, lime or lemon juice and a bit of salt. I don't have a grill, but I bet either of these would be great with your salmon. I serve each as sort of a garnish/topping for salmon.
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1 large bunch of fresh Italian (flat-leaf) parsely
1 bunch fresh basil
A generous handful of mint leaves
3 medium garlic cloves
½ cup capers (the salted variety are best when rinsed, but you can use capers in vinegar if you cut down on the vinegar and mustard in the recipe)
6 anchovy fillets
2 T. red wine vinegar
5 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 scant t. Dijon mustard
Salt and fresh-ground pepper
Pulse everything but the olive oil and mustard in a food processor. Transfer to a bowl and slowly stir in the olive oil to create an emulsion. Finally, add the mustard.
For the first, cut up an avocado (or about 1 for every 2 people) into chunks. Finely chop a bunch of green onions and a garlic clove. Mix in with a bit of lime juice, salt, and hot sauce. You can also use a hot pepper, but I really like the way the vinegar in Tabasco sets off the flavors.
For the second, finely chop (preferably in a blender, I use my baby cuisinart) 1/2 to 1 cucumber, seeds removed, and a lot of dill. Mix with yogurt, or a yogurt-sour cream blend, lime or lemon juice and a bit of salt. I don't have a grill, but I bet either of these would be great with your salmon. I serve each as sort of a garnish/topping for salmon.