This salad covers both kinds of omega-3 in one sitting. The marine kind, the EPA and DHA that only comes from seafood, is in the fish. The plant kind is in the walnuts in the dressing.
Mackerel rather than salmon, partly for variety and partly because tinned mackerel is one of the highest omega-3 options on the shelf and one of the cheapest. Tinned wild-caught salmon works if mackerel isn't your thing. If the tin has soft bones in it, mash them through rather than picking them out, because that's where the calcium is.
Serves 2. About 15 minutes, no oven.
What you need
- 2 tins mackerel fillets in springwater or olive oil, about 110g each, drained
- 400g tin cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 small fennel bulb, shaved as thinly as you can
- 1 bunch asparagus, woody ends snapped off, cut into thirds
- 1 cup peas, fresh or frozen
- 2 big handfuls rocket
- Small handful dill, roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons baby capers, rinsed
For the walnut dressing
- 1/3 cup walnuts
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of 1 lemon, plus the zest
- 1 teaspoon dijon
- Salt and plenty of black pepper
What you do
- Toast the walnuts in a dry pan over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes until they smell nutty. Tip them onto a board, chop roughly, and set half aside for the top.
- Put the other half in a jar with the olive oil, lemon juice and zest, dijon, salt and pepper. Shake hard. It will thicken as the walnuts break down.
- Boil the asparagus and peas together for 2 minutes, then drain and run under cold water so they keep their colour and bite.
- Toss the beans, fennel, asparagus, peas, rocket, dill and capers with about two thirds of the dressing.
- Flake the mackerel over the top in large pieces rather than stirring it through, so it doesn't break up. Spoon over the rest of the dressing, scatter the reserved walnuts, and finish with more pepper.
Notes
Shave the fennel as thinly as you can manage and it softens in the dressing while you finish everything else.
Leftovers hold up overnight, though the rocket won't. Dress only what you're eating and keep the rest separate if you want it for lunch tomorrow.
One tin each is a full serve of oily fish, and the walnuts in the dressing cover the day's plant omega-3. Two meals like this a week and the fish target is done.
About this series
This post is part of Is This Just Getting Older?, a collaboration running through October with eight of us working with women in health, performance and wellbeing. Menopause, nutrition, fibre, snacks, movement, energy, self-compassion and sleep, one topic at a time, leading up to World Menopause Day on 18 October.
There is a Midlife Health and Wellbeing Pack being given away across the campaign, worth more than $3,000, with consultations, books, coaching sessions and a month of Greenher Daily in it.
To enter: follow all eight of us, then like the giveaway post and leave a comment saying one thing you wish more people understood about midlife health. Every account and the post are on one page here. Entries close 18 October.