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).


Ingredients

• 2 rainbow trout fillets, 100g each (alternatively you could use cooked smoked trout) [310]
• 240g new/baby potatoes (around 4-5 - or courgette, see below*) [163]
• 160g asparagus spears (after woody ends have been snapped off - about 12) [45]

• Optional - 2 medium eggs (58g / 88 calories each)

For the dressing

• Juice of one small lemon (a couple of tbsp) [8]
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil [90]
• 1 tsp dijon mustard (e.g. Maille, which is gluten free - check other brands) [8]
• 1 tbsp (non pareille) small capers (rinsed) [3]
• Small handful flatleaf parsley [2]
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper [1]

Method

You will need a pan which you can fit a steamer on top of, which is big enough to hold the trout and asparagus - whether in one or two tiers. If you haven't got a steamer of any kind, you could always boil the sliced potatoes and asparagus instead.

1. Boil the kettle, scrub the potatoes and slice into rounds about 4-5mm thick, no larger. If you want boiled eggs as well, then scrub them really well until thoroughly clean. Add the potatoes to the pan, with some salt (and the eggs if using), and fill with boiling water and turn the heat on. Simmer for 6 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, wash and pat dry the trout fillets, removing any stray bones with tweezers. Put into the steamer basket to one side (or on the upper tier). Wash the asparagus (after snapping off the woody ends, if you haven't already, you can reserve them to make soup), and cut each spear into two lengthways, from base to tip. Put onto the other side of the steamer basket (or on the lower tier).

3. Once the potatoes have been simmering for 6 minutes, turn the heat up a little, and put the steamer with lid on top of them to cook for a further 3 minutes. Whilst this is cooking, finely chop the parsley, and mix all the ingredients for the dressing together until emulsified. If you're not counting calories, feel free to add further oil as desired. Season to taste.

4. After 3 minutes, check your trout - it should be cooked through. Test this by parting the flakes at the thickest part and checking that they are opaque (not see-through and dark orange, but light pink). If so, remove to a plate (and take the eggs out too, and rinse under cold water for a minute, before peeling), put the lid back on the asparagus and turn off the heat.

5. Leave the trout to cool for a minute (you could warm up a plate, quickly!), then gently break into chunks, discarding the skin (and quarter the eggs if using).

6. Drain the potatoes, and plate up the potatoes, asparagus and trout chunks (and eggs if using), drizzled with the dressing - serve immediately and enjoy!

Notes

If you want to reduce the carbs and calories, swap the 240g potatoes for thickly sliced courgettes, and steam alongside the asparagus. Reduce the calories per serving by 56.