looking for spice... in buttermilk-herb marinated salmon & cucumber salad

Like I said in my intro, I grew up in a non-chef family. My mom (the non-chef) absolutely hated cooking. She could travel, entertain, shop like the best of them. Cook? Not so much. With that being said, my food options were limited. And I mean REALLY limited. She had about 6-10 dishes she learned from her grandmother and that was what I grew up with. It wasn't until I started having dinner at friends' houses as a kid that I quickly realized spaghetti with ketchup wasn't considered gourmet. In my new cooking adventure, I've attempted to include herbs and spices that I'm not used to in order to expand my fairly bland palette (thanks, mom).

I've been craving salmon for weeks now, and came upon a recipe that made me drool. I've never cooked with some of these herbs, as well as buttermilk, so I was a bit nervous about some of the ingredients. Turns out the buttermilk-herb marinade doubled as salad dressing, which I thought was amazing; especially if you want to prepare a quick meal using a limited number of ingredients.

For the salmon

2 cups buttermilk

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh basil leaves (chopped)

1/2 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves (chopped)

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions (about 6 scallions)

1/4 cup white vinegar

2 Tbs. honey

1 Tbs. ground ginger 

1 Tsp. salt

1/8 Tsp. pepper

4 sides of salmon, boneless and skin removed

In a food processor, combine the buttermilk, basil, cilantro, scallions, vinegar, honey, ginger, salt and pepper. Process until smooth, and set aside 3/4 cup for the salad.

In a large-rimmed dish, drown the salmon with the remaining marinade. Let the salmon swim in the marinade for about thirty minutes while preheating the oven to 400F. Once you've reached your thirty minute deadline, remove the salmon from the marinade and set in a foil-lined baking dish. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until just firm to the touch and opaque in the center. Bet you thought that last line was mine...

For the cucumber salad

3 large English cucumbers, cut in half lengthwise, seeded, and sliced crosswise (9 1/2 cups)

1 large red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

1 cup pitted Kalamata olives, cut in half

1 cup crumbled feta cheese

1-1/2 Tsp. salt & pepper

I'm not quite sure what English cucumbers are. Are they different from other cucumbers? Do they have a British accent? I used good old fashioned regular (American?) cucumbers and they tasted...like cucumbers. Anyway, mix the cucumber, onion, olives, cheese, salt & pepper with the left over dressing and voila...yummy cucumber salad!

Once the salmon is out of the oven, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes and then you're ready to plate! In my opinion (and the opinion of my fellow diners), the meal came out great! The salmon was baked to perfection (I'm picky about that), and the marinade was awesome. Funny enough, the marinade tasted completely different than the salad dressing, which I really liked. The salad was absolutely awesome, except next time I think I'll use less onions and less salt. The olives and feta made it salty enough. The entire meal took about 45 minutes to prepare, and was pretty easy. 

Julia Child would probably laugh at me with this dish, but my mom...she'd be proud. 

Until my next adventure....

xx,

ronit