Hearty Dinner Salad with Salmon and Maple Glazed Almonds

By Joelene

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 4 (1 lb) Salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 6 to 8 cups your favorite lettuce
• 4 Green onions, sliced on the bias
• 11 oz can Mandarin orange segments, drained
• 1/2 cup maple glazed almonds
• Maple balsamic vinaigrette
• Maple Glazed Almonds
• 2 teaspoon unsalted butter
• ½ cup Almonds
• 1 ½ teaspoon grade B Maple Syrup
• Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Ingredients
• 2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp + 1 teaspoon pure maple syrup (we used grade b)
• 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Preparation

Step 1

Directions
•Preheat grill pan. Spray with cooking spray. You can also make this on an outdoor grill.
•Place salmon in the grill pan. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper. Grill for about 6 minutes on each side or until salmon reaches about 140¡Æ or fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.
•Meanwhile, make the salad. This can be made as one large salad or in individual serving bowls.
•Toss together lettuce, green onions and mandarin oranges. Sprinkle with maple glazed almonds (recipe follows). Drizzle with maple balsamic vinaigrette (recipe follows) or your favorite dressing, when serving.


Directions
•Heat butter in a nonstick sauté pan. Add almonds and cook until they begin to toast (5-10 minutes. Pour on maple syrup and stir. Remove from heat or syrup will burn.
•Put glazed nuts on a piece of waxed paper to cool. Makes ½ cup.


Directions
•Place balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard and oil into a jar. Shake well. Taste and add salt and pepper to taste.
•Optionally, place balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, and Dijon mustard into a bowl. Whisk well. Slowly stream in the vegetable oil while whisking. Add salt and pepper to taste. Makes about ⅓ cup
•NOTE: you may need to adjust the amount of balsamic or oil, depending upon the brand of Balsamic vinegar you use. They all taste quite different. We are using Trader Joe's brand.