This is the perfect light dinner to impress your significant other on a date. Alternatively, if you're already past that "need to impress someone phase" and are already married like us, it's a nice way to eat a restaurant quality meal at home without paying restaurant prices.
This dish really is very simple to make, and you can't really fudge it up unless you don't pay attention when you're searing the salmon.
Ingredients (makes 4 servings)
Salad:
- Salmon (either whole fillet or 4 six ounce pieces) - $12.00
- Seasoning: any combination of old bay, cajun, seafood rub, etc. - $1.00
- Sesame oil - $0.10
- Romaine lettuce hearts (chopped) - $2.00
- Cherry tomatoes (halved) - $1.50
- Red onion (sliced or diced) - $0.20
- Ripe mango or papaya (diced) - $4.00
- 2 avocados (diced) - $2.00
- Blue cheese (crumbled) - $0.50
- Chopped walnuts - $1.30
- Rosemary or other herb for garnish - $1.00
Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette:
- Dijon mustard - $0.20
- Balsamic vinegar - $0.10
- Apple cider vinegar - $0.10
- Maple syrup - $0.75
- Olive oil - $0.20
- Salt and pepper - N/A
Estimated Cost: $26.95
Directions:
- Season salmon fillets with sesame oil and seasoning rub - set aside at room temp
- In large salad bowl, combine chopped lettuce, cherry tomatoes, red onion, mango/papaya (do not include avocado just yet)
- Heat non-stick pan on medium high heat with a tablespoon of olive oil
- Place salmon fillets skin up and leave untouched for about 2 min
- Flip salmon fillets and press down lightly with the spatula, creating some pressure to crisp up the skin
- Remove from pan after about 5-6 min, until desired cooking level. Be sure not to overcook!
- Prepare vinaigrette dressing
- Dice avocado and toss into salad bowl, along with chopped walnuts
- Prepare salad bed on large plate, lay salmon fillet on top, and sprinkle crumbled blue cheese and rosemary on top of everything
- Drizzle with vinaigrette dressing
Anytime you add seafood to a meal it automatically bumps up the cost even if you are not buying very high quality seafood at like a Central Market or Whole Foods. It is, however, still significantly cheaper to make it yourself at home and honestly, I really do think it tastes better. Often times, restaurants overcook the salmon and either don't put in enough, or put in at all, the ingredients that make it taste good, i.e., avocado, mango. Making it at home allows you to control how much of each ingredient to put in, and also allows you to walk away from the table extremely full and satisfied, vs. wanting more at a restaurant.
Obviously you can put whatever salad ingredients you'd like in this recipe, but I find that this combination somehow hits all of the major taste buds in a way that words cannot describe. The cajun seasoning on the salmon provides just the right amount of salt and spice, red onion provides just a little bite, the fruit and dressing make it sweet, and the avocados and blue cheese top it all off to create this dish's signature creamy texture.
We had so much leftover ingredients the next day that we made it again but this time baked the salmon with a jerk mayonnaise based marinade slathered on top of the fillets. Ingredients for the marinade were as follows: mayonnaise, jerk seasoning, garlic powder, cayenne, dijon mustard, honey, Chinese satay sauce. Just spritz a baking sheet with a thin layer of oil and pop them in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 12 min. Then switch it on broil for another 4-5 min. You know it's done when you slip in a toothpick in the thickest part of the meat and it comes out clean.
Calories per Serving: 300-350
Triple H Rating: 6 out of 10
(5 for health and 1 for cheapness factor)
One of our favorite take-out meals to bring back to the house on a Redbox movie night was a pizza and salad from Pagliacci's down the street. Specifically, it would be the 11" Margherita and party sized Pagliaccio Salad. The pizza was $12.99 and salad was $13.99. They had smaller sizes for the salad that were cheaper, but we never had any leftovers when ordering the party size.
After staring at the menu one day while waiting for the takeout order, we noticed how simple it was to replicate the salad and save $13.99 each time and even potentially have leftovers. On top of that, we were able to control what and how much of the ingredients went into the dish, i.e., less or no cheese, less dressing, and substituting the salami for chicken as a healthier alternative.
So here it is....we think our substitutes and own house-made dressing make it taste way better than the original at Pagliacci's and are able to make 3x as much at a 1/3 of the cost. Let us know what you think!
Pagliaccio Salad Ingredients:
- 1 bunch green leaf lettuce (chopped to desired size) - $1.30
- 1 red bell pepper (diced) - $1.00
- 1/2 red onion (diced) - $0.40
- 1 can garbanzo beans (drained) - $0.89
- Handful of cooked chicken breast fajita meat (chopped) - $0.50
- Grated Parmesan cheese (optional) - $0.10
Honey Dijon Vinaigrette Dressing:
- Dijon mustard - $0.20
- Apple cider vinegar - $0.10
- Honey - $0.20
- Salt and pepper - N/A
- Olive oil - $0.20
Estimated Cost: $4.89
Directions:
- Lay down chopped green leaf lettuce on serving plate
- Sprinkle desired amount of diced red bell pepper, red onion, garbanzo beans, and chicken on top
- Lightly shake grated Parmesan cheese on top
- Mix dressing ingredients together until smooth (adjust amount of mustard, vinegar, and honey according to taste)
- Add dressing and freshly cracked black pepper just before serving
Calories per Serving: <200 (one big plate)
Triple H Rating: 9 out of 10 (4 for health and 5 for cheapness factor)
