This bright, vibrant Asian Salmon Salad with Citrus Soy Dressing is the perfect light meal! Perfectly seared glazed salmon tops a salad dressed with a fresh citrus soy dressing. Simple and delicious!
This light, bright salad is the best, you guys! Its no secret that I love Asian flavours. It’s also no secret that I love seafood and so this is the perfect marriage of both!
It’s simple to make and packed with healthy ingredients. Definitely one of those meals that you feel great about eating! And it doesn’t hurt that it is so delicious too! My mouth is watering as I’m writing this and I totally wish I had more to eat right now!
This salad is packed with nutrients! Healthy fruits and veggies, a light dressing made with healthy oils, and omega-3 rich salmon! I also made the marinade and dressing without any refined sugar. So yeah, you can feel good about eating this!
How to make Asian Salmon Salad
This salad meal is easy to do and is essentially made up of 3 different components:
- the glazed salmon
- a light citrus soy dressing
- the fruits and veggies that make up the salad
Each component is easy to do and the first 2 can actually be made side by side which is what I do!
What you’ll need
For the salmon
1 lb salmon cut into 4 portions
2 tablespoons each orange juice, soy sauce and honey
1 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons green onions, for garnish
sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)
Citrus Soy Dressing
2 tablespoons each orange juice, soy sauce, honey and rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
For the salad
8 cups green leaf lettuce, chopped
2 oranges, cut into segments
2 avocados, chopped
3 radishes, thinly sliced
The ingredients for the marinade are actually almost identical except that I also add rice vinegar to the dressing (but not the marinade. Everything else is the same and so I make them both side by side to save time!
Getting cooking!
The first step for making this dish is to prepare your salmon. But as I mentioned above, the marinade for the salmon is almost exactly the same as the dressing so you may want to do both together.
I measure out the marinade and dressing ingredients (remember for the dressing you will add rice vinagar but not to the marinade). Then I place the salmon in a dish and pour the marinade over it. I let it marinade in the fridge for 20 minutes or more.
While its marinading, I prepare the lettuce, oranges, and radishes for the salad. I don’t cut the avocado yet because it browns as it sits and so I save that step for the last minute. Drizzle as much dressing as you desire on the salads. You can wait to add the dressing until just before serving but because the salmon takes less than 10 minutes to prepare, I don’t worry about it getting soggy.
Once my salad is plated and ready to be topped with the salmon, I get started cooking!
I heat oil in a skillet and add the salmon, skin side up and cook it for a few minutes. Then I flip it and cook for another few minutes. Salmon doesn’t take long to cook but you may need to adjust your cook time depending on the thickness of your salmon.
While the salmon is cooking, I prepare the glaze. I place the leftover marinade into a saucepan and bring it to a boil. I let it cook for a couple of minutes to ensure any bacteria is cooked off (since the raw salmon was sitting in it, it is important to cook the sauce to ensure it is safe to eat). Once its boiled, I add a cornstarch slurry to it to thicken it up and boil it for another minute.
Once the salmon is cooked, I brush it with the glaze and sprinkle it with sesame seeds and green onion. Then I place it on top of the salad. Add the avocado and voila!
The recipe makes 4 servings. For us that means we get to enjoy it twice since there are only 2 of us. I never halve the recipe though. Its great for meal prep and so I like that I have leftovers to enjoy again the next day.
Except today I already ate the leftovers and I wish I had more! Ha!
I hope you enjoy this Asian Salmon Salad with Citrus Soy Dressing as much as I do! Bon appetit!
-Cathy
You may also like:
Orange Pomegranate Salad with Citrus Poppy Seed Dressing
Roasted Butternut Squash, Pomegranate and Arugula Salad
Asian Salmon Salad with Citrus Soy Dressing
Ingredients
For the salmon
- 1 lb salmon cut into 4 portions
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons green onions for garnish
- sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
Citrus Soy Dressing
- 2 tablespoons orange juice
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
For the salad
- 8 cups green leaf lettuce chopped
- 2 oranges cut into segments
- 2 small avocados chopped
- 3 radishes thinly sliced
Instructions
- Combine the soy sauce, orange juice, honey, olive oil, sesame oil, and ginger powder in a bowl. Pour it over the salmon and allow it to marinate for at least 20 minutes (preferably an hour).
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the salmon skin side up and cook for a few minutes, then flip and cook for another 3 minutes or so or until the salmon is cooked through (cooking time can vary depending on the thickness of the salmon). Remove salmon from skillet and set aside.
- To turn the leftover marinade into a glaze, add it to a saucepan and bring it a boil for a couple of minutes (its important to let it boil for awhile to kill off any bacteria). In a small cup, add cornstarch to 1/4 cup water and stir to create a slurry. Add it to the saucepan and whisk together, bringing it to a boil again. Remove glaze. Brush on top of salmon. Sprinkle salmon with sesame seeds and green onions.
- To make the dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a jar and shake to combine.
- Add the lettuce and remaining salad ingredients to bowls. Add as much dressing as desired to each salad, then top each with the salmon. Serve.
