I am in full on apple mode lately. The other day I went apple picking and now have an abundance of apples to go through in a very short time! I'm also not much of a sweets person and do not particularly like making pastries. Anything that requires too much precision and weighing out exact amounts? Is not quite my cup of tea. I'd much rather toss everything together and go, "That tastes good," than just plop into the oven and hope that the humidity didn't screw up the flakiness of the pastry dough. So, I'm determined to use all of these apples without actually having to make a pie! Especially right before the holidays. If I'm going to make a pie, it's probably going to be for the big winter holidays. And also probably going to be a cheesecake. Because, again, I still don't really like pie all that much. Hence, the Salad w/ Salmon, Black Rice, & Roasted SnapDragon Apples.
The first dish that I made after this apple picking endeavor is Quiche w/ Salmon, Leeks, & SnapDragon Apples. I still have some salmon and SnapDragon apples leftover. So, I decided to roast up a couple of the apples with a batch of black rice for a fun fall dishes. The color pattern also goes well with the Halloween season that's vastly approaching.
SnapDragon Apples
I'm unsure whether Snap Dragon/Snapdragon has a space between it or not. I just went apple picking and the patch that I got them from wrote it both ways. Googling "snap dragon or snapdragon apple" gave me SnapDragon®, which is neither of the ways that I was expecting. Although I also wasn't expecting this to come from snapdragoapple.com and its official partnership with the Buffalo Bills.
All I know is that I have a week to use a couple dozen apples. You can see all of the apples and recipes in this series in my full article on Apple Picking & What to Cook All Fall Season. And I think that I'm just going to go with SnapDragon, even though that still seems weird (in the process of writing the 5 recipes that have used these apples, I've changed all of the spelling 3 times and I am not going to do that again without very good reason!).
SnapDragons are a crisp apple that was developed in New York. They're a sweet Honeycrisp cross with a subtle tartness. They have a yellow base with a darker red hue throughout the rest of the apple. They're most known for being for being a crunchy and juicy apple that goes well as a nice crunch in salads and cheese plates.
Gallery
Variations of Salmon & Rice Salad
I'm not a salad as lettuce kind of person. Not that I won't use spinach and typical fruits and vegetables that typically go into a salad. But I'm a firm believer that salads don't have to be boring! Or covered in mayonnaise. When I say that I'm making a salad, I'm really making an entire dish. A lot of the time it's salmon with some kind of rice, lentils, or vermicelli with some kind of salsa.
1filet salmon per person( 4 total for entire batch)
splash olive oil
dash salt
dash pepper
lemons sliced
Salad
1filet salmonper person
1/2c.quinoa
1appleroasted & cubed
Instructions
Black Rice
Add all of the ingredients into a rice cooker. I like to start with the larger vegetables and then add the smaller ingredients. Top with the spices and vinegar. And then add the quinoa and water.This cooks the larger vegetables on the bottom, while dispersing the flavor profiles in the middle. Although with some mixing, this really doesn't matter all that much. Everything will eventually cook together!
Press the cook button on the rice cooker. It should take about 45 minutes to cook. When the quinoa is fully cooked, let sit for 10 minutes. Then, fluff with a wooden spoon.
Roasted Apples
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Core the apples and slice into 1-inch cubes and toss in oil and spices.
Place the apple cubes evenly across a baking sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes. Make sure to stir or flip the apple cubes halfway through to get an even cook on all sides.
Bake Salmon
Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
Place salmon skin-side down on a griddle or baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and add a dash of salt and pepper. Slice a lemon and place evenly on top of the salmon.
Bake salmon for 12-15 minutes, or until the salmon begins to flake. Salmon tends to be cooked when it loses the bright color and you can take a fork and it easily separates. Larger cuts of salmon may take upwards of 20 minutes. Smaller, individual portions may take less time. It's best to begin checking after 10 minutes of cooking and adjust the cooking time to the doneness of your filet.
This entire recipe will make 4 servings. I typically make 1 small filet per person.
Otherwise, I tend to cook just enough for myself and then use the rest of the quinoa and lettuce for other dishes.
Salad
Arrange the quinoa, salmon, and squash seeds on a plate. Serve immediately or refrigerate and serve as a cold salad later on. When I know that I'm going to have leftovers, I'll oftentimes shred the salmon and mix in for a grab and go lunch.
Tips, Tricks, & Notes
For more information on baking salmon, check out my articles on The Fundamentals of Oven Baked Salmon and Barbecue Salmon. I'm particularly fond of cooking on a well-seasoned cast iron griddle because you don't need additional oil or foil to to keep it from sticking. But there are certainly ways around this if you don't want to dedicate an entire cast iron pan to fish! Cooking salmon is also more of an art than a science. No two filets are going to cook in the exact same amount of time and there are definitely some tips and tricks to nailing the cook on fish.
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