Angler’s Chop Salad
Catching a trout is a right of passage for anyone growing up in the Northwest. Like salmon, they are delicious fresh as well as smoked. Whether you catch fish yourself, buy at the market, or have an angler friend there is no doubt that fish is easy to acquire in the Northwest. Often times avid fisherman will smoke and freeze fish for the off season. This salad is paired with two other native foods, huckleberries and filberts. The evergreen huckleberry (Vaccinium ovatum)is my favorite wild berry and if you can’t find them just plant one in your yard. We had a bumper crop of these delicious berries that we have been eating since early fall and it still has berries on it. This is a service only a native plant can provide. Dried currants work as a substitute and I bet blackberries and smoked salmon would be good too. This mix of ingredients works with any crunchy salad greens you might have on hand, I used one leaf of kale, a heart of romaine, and a chunk of cabbage.
Angler’s Chop Salad
smoked trout
toasted filberts
huckleberries
crunchy greens
fresh tarragon
simple viniagarette (click for recipe)
The portions of ingredients do not matter here. Run a knife over the filberts, at least chopping each in half. Put a small frying pan on med heat and dry roast the filberts for a few minutes, until they begin to brown. Remove from heat. Chop greens and tarragon. Pull trout into small pieces, making sure there are no bones. Arrange salad however you like, add dressing and toss. I like to sprinkle the huckleberries on top as the last step. This salad is dynamite!
by the handful 