Smoked Salmon - 6 ways...

So in the hopes of eating healthy and to avoid the dreaded Quarantine Fifteen, I went to Costco to buy all things healthy. I came back stocked with loads of veggies and one treat, smoked salmon. Well, I came home with a lot more than that (magazines, pretzels, granola bars, etc.). I used to get out of Costco under $50 but this time, it was $200+. It's true what they say, do not shop on an empty stomach...

So I had 500g of smoked salmon and I was determined to come up with a few ways to have it over the next few days. 

On Day One, I did a very simple breakfast of smoked salmon with quail eggs and a sprinkle of capers. I had some mini-croissants which suited the whole miniature theme. I don't normally eat a lot for breakfast anyways, and this two little bites made me feel like a giant, a Brobdingnagian from Gulliver's Travels. I suppose one could mistake this for a full sized croissant and chicken egg at a glance, right? 

Okay, no more mini-croissants for Day Two so I paired with some Wisecrackers (from Costco) for a light lunch. They are pretty mild, flavoured with olive oil and sea salt. The crunch was really good against the soft salmon and egg. I added some La Vache Qui Rit because I didn't have any cream cheese at home, so that was a handy substitute.

On Day Three, I decided to have the smoked salmon as just a snack. Using the same crackers as yesterday, I added some cucumber and cherry tomatoes but it was a pretty bland. Maybe I should have used more dill and maybe a squirt of lemon juice too. Oh well, next time. 

So by Day Four, I was a little sick of crackers and opted for a healthy pasta salad instead. I used a chickpea, brown rice and quinoa-based fusilli but it was disappointingly crumbly. Maybe I overcooked it? I tossed it with a lemon vinaigrette found it really refreshing. I would do this again but with another type of pasta or maybe quinoa? 

Day Five was my favourite so far. Maybe because I was comparing it to Day Four...but I did finally get cream cheese and more dill. The colours were so bright and fresh, the pop of the quail egg yolk made it even better. Yes, this was definitely my favourite. It was a perfect bite, a bit of crunch from the cracker and the cucumber, and the smooth cream cheese and the buttery salmon. Yum! 

And now we're at Day Six, and the last of the smoked salmon here. There's not quite enough for a meal, so I added two poached shrimp to round it out a bit. Originally, the plan was to make a hot pasta dish, something creamy and decadent with rotini or linguine, but the heatwave we have going on right now here in Vancouver made me catatonic at the thought of turning on the stove. So Thai Noodle Salad it was! It's a huge pile of veggies, romaine, yellow and red peppers, cucumber as well as bean sprouts over a bed of vermicelli. For a bit pf protein, I topped it with loosely shredded smoked salmon and a few prawns. The dressing is made up of fish sauce, lime juice, garlic, a bit of sugar and some bird's eye chilies and cilantro. Refreshing, spicy and more filling than you'd expect! I mixed the dressing with the vermicelli first so it has a chance to soak it up first, then top with the salad and drizzle more dressing.

So now that my Smoked Salmon theme is done, I am going to have to find another ingredient to do five or six ways. Maybe canned tuna? Chickpeas? Quinoa? Or maybe I'll move on to baking...but only small batches because it's too hot out, and oh,  my big oven is broken...