Do you want something cool for dinner on a hot summer night?
I cook all the time it seems like whether it is summer, fall, winter or spring. Soups are not as appealing in the summer months as the other three seasons and I don’t like eating a lot of cold foods in the cooler months when all you want is some good comfort food. But, when it is 100° outside with the “feels like” temperature even higher than that I do occasionally go for something easier and cold for dinner.
The day I bought this salmon, it wasn’t even on my grocery list. But, when I happened by the seafood section and saw this beautifully arranged salmon fillets, I had to buy some. We are lucky here in our part of Texas to have a great assortment of seafood year round. This salmon was a beautiful orange and was a wild caught fish which makes it even better.
The recipe I came across for the marinade for this dish used soba noodles. I decided to make it “pasta” free and make my noodles from zucchini, cucumber, carrot and onion. Remember, I don’t want to call this zucchini pasta because it isn’t fooling anyone saying that. I wouldn’t want my tastebuds set for some good pasta and get a mouth full of vegetables but, if you know in advance that this is a very healthy dish, you will not mind at all that it’s carb free.
My salmon was cooked on a cedar plank but you do not have to make yours that way; simply throw it on a grill or in the oven or even in a skillet to cook it. My cedar planks got used because I’ve had them in my closet for almost 7 years and never opened the package. Now that the package is opened, I will probably use them again even though I didn’t taste much flavor for the planks; that could be because they were so old — who knows.
BLAST FROM THE PAST: Since zucchini are so plentiful and large this time of the year, you should try my Zucchini Bowl for Salad, it makes a beautiful presentation.
Noodle ingredients.
Beautiful wild caught salmon.
Put the salmon in the bag with the half the marinade. Reserve the remaining marinade as dressing for the noodles.
Put the salmon on a cedar plank that has been soaked a couple of hours in water.
Grill the salmon the way you like it. Then remove and cool or refrigerate until ready to serve.
I used my spiralizer to cut the zucchini and cucumber.
A bowl full of guiltless noodles.
I used a mandolin to cut the red onion thin and a julienne tool to strip the carrots.
Use the other part of the marinade and toss some of it with noodles.
- 1 Cedar Plank soaked in cold water for 1 hr or longer.
- 1/2 c. Soy sauce
- 1/4 c. Rice vinegar
- 1/4 c. Mirin or sherry
- 3 T. Sesame oil
- 2 T. Sugar
- Pinch crushed red pepper
- 1-2 tsp. Thai Sweet Chili Sauce, optional
- 2-5 oz salmon filets
- 1 large zucchini
- 1 English cucumber
- 1/2 of red onion
- 6 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 jalapeno, very thinly sliced, optional
- Cilantro for garnish
- 2 T. Black or white sesame seeds
- Either use a spiralized or a julienne tool and cut your cucumber, red onion, and zucchini into noodles. Use a julienne tool to cut the carrots into strips. Refrigerate.
- Meanwhile, in a medium bowl whisk together the soy sauce, rice vinegar, mirin, sesame oil, ginger, sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes. Place the salmon in a small dish or a Ziploc bag. Pour a quarter cup or more of the marinade/dressing over the salmon so it is coated - it does not have to be submerged. Chill for 20 minutes in refrigerator.
- Use the left over marinade (that has not touched the salmon) as a dressing. I added 1-2 teaspoons of the Thai sweet chili sauce and whisked it to combined.
- Take the salmon out of the marinade. Put the salmon on the soaked cedar plank (or just cook it on the grill). Grill for about 5-6 minutes or until the way you like it. Cut into small pieces or crumble.
- To assemble: Toss the noodle mixture with some of the dressing. Put a mound on a plate and top with salmon. Sprinkle with some green onions and sesame seeds.
- I had some Sweet Soy Glaze so drizzled some of it over the finished plate.
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