Warm Couscous Salad With Salmon and Mustard-Dill Dressing Recipe

An under 30-minute dish that's perfect for a picnic or weeknight meal.

By
Keeping it Simple. She has a penchant for cheesy phrases, lemons, fresh herbs, feta and cumin." tabindex="0" data-inline-tooltip="true"> Yasmin Fahr
Yasmin Fahr: Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Yasmin Fahr
Yasmin Fahr is a food writer, recipe developer and author of the cookbookKeeping it Simple. She has a penchant for cheesy phrases, lemons, fresh herbs, feta and cumin.
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2023年8月30日更新
Couscous salad with salmon and mustard-dill dressing served inside a dish and garnished with dill

Serious Eats / Qi Ai

Why This Recipe Works

  • Cooking the salmon first allows it to rest while the couscous cooks.
  • Making the dressing in the serving bowl means one less dish to wash.

I don't know who first put dill, mustard, and salmon together, but they were clearly a culinary genius. Or at least areallysmart cook. It's a common combination, and with good reason—the bold, grassy-sweet flavor of the dill and the tangy mustard team up to offset the fatty salmon for a supremely balanced effect.

In this recipe, I put to use my foolproofsalmon-cooking skillsto cook two hefty salmon fillets—the results are moist and tender fillets with crispy skin. Then, while the salmon is resting, I simply wipe out the pan and get the couscous base going. Once cooked and off the heat, I mix spinach, dill, and flaked salmon into the pasta-like pearls, allowing the couscous to fluff while wilting the spinach and re-heating the salmon (and satisfying my need for efficiency—this is also when I begin giving myself imaginary high-fives).

Finished couscous salad with salmon and dill on a plate.

Serious Eats / Yasmin Fahr

Serving the dish while still hot makes for a great weeknight meal, but it tastes equally delicious chilled. Especially when you're eating it while sitting on a picnic blanket in the middle of a breezy park meadow.

August 2014

Recipe Details

Warm Couscous Salad With Salmon and Mustard-Dill Dressing Recipe

Active25 mins
Total25 mins
服务4 servings

An under 30-minute dish that's perfect for a picnic or weeknight meal.

华体会应用下载

  • 2(8-ounce)salmon fillets, preferably wild

  • Kosher saltand freshly ground black pepper

  • 1/3cupplus2tablespoonsextra-virgin olive oil, divided

  • 1mediumshallot, thinly sliced

  • 6盎司pearled couscous

  • 3cupshomemade vegetable stock or store-boughtlow-sodium vegetable broth

  • 2tablespoonsDijon mustard

  • 2tablespoonsfresh juice from 1 lemon

  • 1/2cuppickeddill, roughly chopped, plus more for garnish

  • 1 1/2cupsspinach leaves, chopped in half if large, or left whole if baby

Directions

  1. Season salmon with salt and pepper. Heat 1/3 cup oil in a 12-inch stainless steel skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add salmon, skin-side down, and immediately reduce heat to medium-low. Cook, pressing down gently with a spatula to ensure contact, until skin is rendered and crisp, about 6 minutes. If skin shows resistance when attempting to lift with a spatula, allow it to continue to cook until it lifts easily.

    Salmon cooking skin-side-down in oil inside a 12-inch stainless steel skillet

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  2. Flip salmon and cook until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 120°F (49°C) for medium rare or 130°F (54°C) for medium, about 1 minute longer. Transfer salmon to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to cool. Once cooled, flake salmon using your hands; discard skin.

    Salmon flipped over inside skillet and cooked, and cooled salmon flaked on plate, with skin discarded

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  3. Meanwhile, wipe out skillet. Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil and heat over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add shallot and a pinch of salt and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Add couscous and cook, stirring, until lightly toasted and fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth, stirring to combine, and adjust heat to maintain a simmer. Cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed and couscous is tender. Strain any excess liquid.

    A collage of shallot softened inside 12-inch stainless steel skillet, couscous lightly toasted, broth maintaining a simmer, and tender couscous

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai

  4. In a large serving bowl, mix together mustard and lemon juice. Stir in couscous, along with dill and spinach, stirring to fluff the couscous and wilt the spinach. Stir in flaked salmon and season with salt and pepper. Garnish with dill and serve right away.

    Flaked salmon stirred into fluffed couscous with mustard and lemon juice and dill and spinach mixture, inside large serving bowl

    Serious Eats / Qi Ai
Nutrition Facts(per serving)
551 Calories
39g Fat
20g Carbs
30g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4
Amount per serving
Calories 551
% Daily Value*
Total Fat39g 51%
Saturated Fat 6g 31%
Cholesterol71mg 24%
Sodium752mg 33%
Total Carbohydrate20g 7%
Dietary Fiber 3g 12%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein30g
Vitamin C 19mg 95%
Calcium 140mg 11%
Iron 4mg 21%
Potassium 960mg 20%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

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