You’ve heard of cheap & cheerful? Well meet my new favorite – fast & fresh, & this beautiful recipe: Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Pasta Salad. Honey hot-smoked salmon & bright, crisp asparagus tossed in a creamy horseradish dressing, transcends spring with its vibrant flavors reminiscent of Central Europe.
With the next phase of our home renovations well underway, cooking a decent evening meal after a long day of working on the house is top of my low priority list. Eating take-out Chinese & ordering pizza isn’t going to help either our budget or my weight loss goal, so I’ve been developing some throw-together recipes that are wholesome & interesting. I made this spring-like pasta salad on my TV show many years ago & decided to blow off the dust & try it again.
I have countless recipes from my Canadian cooking show & I maintain intellectually property rights to all of them. Because I get messages weekly from people in Canada telling me they miss my show – ‘Simple, Fresh, Delicious‘ & wondering where I got to, I decide to share some of the recipes I cooked on my show here. This Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Pasta Salad is from season 2 & the episode ‘Fast & Easy Pastas‘. There’s actually recorded proof out there, this pasta salad really is fast & fresh.
If you love smoked salmon, which I assume you do if you clicked on the link, & you’re often on the lookout for easy, throw-together meals, then you’ll love Smoked Salmon & Avocado Wasabi Bowl too. This is from an older post on here & uses cold smoked salmon. Smoked Salmon & Asparagus Pasta Salad uses hot smoked salmon. Hot smoked salmon has the same texture as baked or pan-fried salmon, but with that irresistible smoky flavor. Read more about hot smoked versus cold smoked salmon here.
You can have this meal prepped in the time it takes for the pasta to cook. A bowl or two & you’ve got yourself a bright, springtime meal that is suitable for a lunchtime soiree with the girls or a fast & fresh meal if you’re house is in reno shambles & like me, you’re trying not to reach for those take-out menus. Until next time
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- (12oz) 340g bow tie pasta (farfalle)
- 1 lb (500g) asparagus, trimmed and cut into lengths
- 8 oz (22g) honey hot smoked salmon, flaked
- 2 tablespoons small capers (or larger capers, chopped)
- 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh dill, plus extra for garnish
- lemon wedges, to serve
- HORSERADISH DRESSING
- 1/3 cup sour cream
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice (from pickling the onions)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons creamed horseradish
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- pinch salt
- Combine onion & lemon juice in small bowl. Let stand for 10 minutes to pickle the onions. Drain the onions, reserving the lemon juice for the dressing.
- Cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water for 10 minutes or until almost al dente. Add asparagus to the pasta & cook for 2 minutes or until asparagus is bright green & tender-crisp & pasta is cooked. Drain asparagus & pasta into a colander & rinse under cold water to cool the pasta & prevent it sticking together.
- Toss cooled, drained pasta & asparagus with salmon, capers, dill & onion together in a large bowl.
- To make the horseradish dressing, whisk all ingredients together, including the lemon juice from the onions, in small bowl. Drizzle almost all the dressing over the salad & toss to combine. Drizzle with remaining dressing & sprinkle with extra dill. Serve with lemon wedges.
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