Ten-minute Trout, Asparagus and New Potato (Warm) Salad

Simple, quick and satisfying and ready in minutes - a delicious dish with minimal effort.

If you prefer, substitute salmon fillet(s) instead, from the tail end where they're flat and triangular, which will be equally delicious - ready-to-eat smoked trout fillets would work really well too, if you don't want to cook the trout yourself. A nice addition which combines perfectly with the other flavours is a boiled egg with a creamy yolk, quartered and nestling on top.

Serves two, 315 calories per serving - easily halved or doubled (calories in square brackets if you're counting). Add another 88 calories for a UK medium sized egg (58g).

Tea-Smoked Teriyaki Trout (or Salmon)

Smoking, Brining and Photo-Editing

No, I'm not talking 20 Marlboro...

I'm itching to get my smoker fired up (it's an eco smoker, which is essentially a cardboard box with metal shelves in it, and a fantastic little smoker in the bottom that burns for up to 10 hours and cold-smokes your food). I love that thing - it paid for itself on the first use, by smoking a side of salmon that I got half price (£10), with a variety of cheeses, sea salt and garlic bulbs using up the spare space.And then there was the home-made pastrami, marinated in spiced brine, cold smoked, then cooked sous vide... but more on all that another time. As a distraction from trying to make some kind of cool title photo involving forks and food, I was thinking about smoking in the house, in a wok (or possibly even large pan), something easy to do at home, where you don't really need special equipment. I've tea-smoked fresh-caught mackerel and teriyaki-marinaded trout on a barbeque before (recipe below), with a mix of tea, sugar and raw rice on some foil on top of the glowing coals, lid down once the smoke is going, then within a short time, luscious, smoky fish...

I was thinking of tea-smoking some duck breasts I bought last week, but didn't get around to it. And I was still thinking about smoking something indoors (rather than outside) yesterday. And the day before. And today. So, I'm going to do it...

Smoked Trout and Celeriac Remoulade with a Twist

Hot off the press!

While I'm busy trying to add the huge backlog of recipes I have, here's one I've just written up... whilst wandering around trying to decide what to have for dinner while the rest of my clan had decided on home-made burgers, I spotted some cold-smoked trout fillets, so decided to have them grilled with some celeriac remoulade. I added a little ground fennel seed to the celeriac, to complement the aniseed notes, and served it simply with some green leaves, for a quick and tasty treat.

You could just use some ready-to-eat hot-smoked trout, as you don't often find it cold-smoked, or use some lightly smoked salmon fillets if you see them. Or even some sliced smoked salmon (obviously, I doubt you'd want to grill that!). If you're feeling adventurous, you can buy fresh trout or salmon and give it a quick smoke yourself (see notes). If you're not counting calories, drizzle the leaves with some good extra virgin olive oil, and add mayonnaise to the celeriac to your taste - home-made is best, of course, but use your favourite if your wrist is feeling too tired to make your own...

Smoked Trout with a Lemony Celeriac Remoulade

Simple but delicious, choose which mayonnaise you use to determine how many calories are in your meal, if you're counting.

Serves 4, easily halved. Calories per serving: 217 if using extra light mayonnaise; if you use light mayonnaise it will be 259 calories per portion; and 339 calories per portion if using full fat mayonnaise – all within range, go for your personal preference!