Local fitness enthusiast Jason Murphy remakes favorite meals of his youth into healthy dishes. See the full list of his recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.
Cool as a Cucumber Wrap
Springtime doesn’t just bring flowers blooming and warmer temperatures. It also brings a sudden realization of wintertime weight gain and how tight the bathing suits are looking as they emerge from their dark, forgotten hiding places.
It’s a time to move on from the heavy winter comfort foods and holiday desserts to lighter fare before the pool party invitations start showing up. People also start having an aversion to using their ovens, convinced it will turn their kitchen into a supernova of heat. Quick no cook recipes are in sudden demand, and that usually comes with high processed cold meats, which are not going to help the bathing suit situation much. Luckily, there are options.
Take salmon, for instance. By now everyone knows wild caught salmon is one of the healthiest protein sources around, full of omega-3 fatty acids, potassium, and a full range of the vitamin B group. Most people also avoid cooking it at home, afraid they will either not cook it correctly or just have a fish phobia in general. The good news is you don’t have to cook it at all if you go the cold smoked salmon route.
It’s sliced super thin, has a slightly smoky flavor, and all you have to do to prepare it is leave it out for about 30 minutes at room temp to maximize the flavor.
Now, say you have a little garden going at home with cucumbers ready to pick. That’s fantastic because cucumbers and salmon go great together, and they bring their own health benefits to the party.
Add some plain grass fed yogurt to make a sauce and my high fiber wraps from a previous article, and you have several powerhouse ingredients coming together for a quick no-cook springtime lunch.
The only issue we have to deal with is the water content in the cucumber. Adding cucumber to water is a trend right now, which is a bit ironic since a cucumber is already 96% water on it’s own.
To deal with this, we need to make use of a mandolin slicer to get wafer thin uniform slices. It also helps to have a Kevlar glove to make sure your wraps don’t also have some extra protein from your own fingers. The cutting blade on these things is indiscriminate in what it slices off, so be careful and use caution.
You can modify toppings and flavor profiles of the dressing to your liking, avocadoes or some tomatoes would make a great addition. Most American diets are lacking in fatty fish, so this is a quick and easy way to fix that issue. Next time you need a break from the same old cold-cut sandwich, give it a try and you might just have a new favorite. The link to the homemade tortillas is below. Add some chives and parsley to it for this recipe to match the flavor profile, and enjoy.
Smoked Salmon Cucumber Wraps
Ingredients:
1 cucumber, sliced thin
1 cup plain yogurt
Zest of one lemon, plus 1 tbsp juice
1/8 tsp sea salt
1 bunch fresh Dill, chopped fine
1 package cold smoked wild caught salmon, set out for 30 minutes before serving
1 batch Shirtless Chef tortillas
Instructions:
Wash and slice the cucumber using the mandolin slicer. Use Kevlar gloves or the hand guard that comes with the slicer to make sure you have the same number of fingers you started with after you are done:
Place the cucumber slices in a strainer over a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and toss. Leave to let the salt pull water from the slices. Wait at least 30 minutes, and then squeeze to get the rest of the water out:
Mix the yogurt, dill, salt, lemon zest, and juice in a bowl to combine:
Combine the dressing with the cucumbers and mix well:
Open the salmon. It will be in very thin slices that you will pull apart:
Layer a home made tortilla with the cucumber mix and then slices of the salmon:
Add any toppings to your liking. A serving of Jicama fries goes great with the wrap:
See the list of all the Shirtless Chef recipes at www.mysaline.com/shirtless.