Smoked Trout Salad – OMG you must try it!

Smoked Trout Salad from The Hairy Dieters is unbelievably good – I’d be delighted to be served this even if I wasn’t trying to shed some timber – and you’ll be the envy of your friends and workmates if they see you tucking into it! The celeriac ‘fries’ add a nice touch but they are a bit faffy to prep, so if you’re in a hurry you can leave them out and still enjoy this food porn without any detriment.

My local supermarket isn’t posh enough to stock trout, but it’s just as good with hot smoked salmon flakes which is what I used in the photo above. They are expensive at around £3.75 per 100g pack but this dish is soooo worth it. The quantities will serve 4 at an incredible 135 calories per portion, or you can afford to enjoy a lunchtime feast for only 270 calories if serving 2. You know it makes sense!

You’ll have plenty of celeriac leftover so why not have a go at making The Hairy Dieters’ Corned Beef Hash which is also in their ‘Fast Food’ book, a celeriac puree to accompany a chicken-based dish, or Jamie Oliver’s quirky but fantastic ‘Zombie Brain’ dish which features in his ‘Save with Jamie’ book. I’ll try and blog about them at some point.

Recipe: Smoked Trout Salad

Calories: 135 per portion

Serves: 4

Book: The Hairy Dieters Fast Food

Prep time: Approx 15 mins

Cooking time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

• 200g celeriac (peeled weight)
• Low-cal spray
• 100g green beans
• 100g salad leaves such as spinach, baby kale, pea shoots or lamb’s lettuce
• 250g cooked beetroot (cut into wedges)
• 200g smoked trout
• Small bunch of dill (leaves only)
• A few chives
• Flaked sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper

Salad dressing:

• 75ml buttermilk or low-fat yoghurt
• 1 tsp cider vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• ½ tsp runny honey

Cost per portion: Approx *£3.11 *cost based on Sainsbury’s prices – December 2022

Method: Pre-heat the oven to 220 degrees C / Fan 200 / Gas 7. Cut the celeriac into very fine matchsticks. The easiest way to do this is to cut it into thin slices first, using a mandolin if you have one, and then into fine strips. Spritz a baking tray with low-cal oil and spread the celeriac strips over it. Sprinkle them quite generously with salt, and pepper, then spray with oil again.

Bake the celeriac fries in the oven for 20 minutes, turning them every 5 minutes or so, until they have shrunk down and cooked through. You will find some strips are well browned and crunchy while others are slightly softer, but the contrast is good. The fries will crisp up further as they cool.

While the celeriac is cooking, prepare the rest of the salad. Trim the green beans and cut them in half. Cook them in a saucepan of boiling water for 4-5 minutes or until tender, then drain.

Spread the salad leaves over a large platter and add the beans, beetroot and celeriac fries.

Break up the trout into chunks and add these to the salad. Separate the dill into small fronds and snip the chives with scissors, then sprinkle them over the salad.

Whisk the salad dressing ingredients together and season with salt and black pepper. Drizzle the dressing over the salad and serve.