Oh my, this Swiss chard, salmon and fresh lovage warm salad is absolutely divine. It is packed with beautiful seasonal ingredients, some even grown in own garden. Truly flavoursome too!
So far I’ve only got herbs and flowers in my garden and one of my absolute favourite ever herb is lovage. I use it quite a lot in my cooking especially fresh in salads and soups. Its unique flavour gives such a great taste and flavour to anything that this amazing herb goes into making it a truly delicious recipe.
My only issue with lovage is that it doesn’t last long, sadly. I’d love to have it in the garden all throughout the year but it’s just a spring-early summer herb and then it goes away.
I, therefore, use it as much as possible when it’s nice and fresh to make the most of it and the bigger stems I cut, wash them and freeze. Frozen lovage is great for soups and I particularly like it with this meatballs, lamb or beans soup.
Here is a shot of my lovely lovage that is happily growing in my garden.
Oh my! I just realized that I’ve never managed to get my lamb soup recipe live yet, a soup that is loved by everyone that had it in my place, my friends told me that it really should be my signature dish. It is a great soup especially for those that love a good old soup. That recipe has to come soon now that I've mentioned.
Do you like salmon?
Coming back to this lovely and so nutritious salmon salad recipe, I’ve made it last week, kids were on holiday, all nice and happy. I came home from a heavy day at work - you know when all issues, phone calls pour in all at once - a kinda day when you feel like your head is about to explode and all you need it’s to hit the bed.
On the way home, while driving I was thinking I need to come home, just relax and do nothing the whole day, let hubby finish the day get the cooking and the dinner done and all the rest.
All those thoughts shuttered when I hit home and went in the garden (my top favourite time in the garden is now) saw my beautiful Cala lilies and my herbs and the freshly looking grass. I instantaneously came back to life and felt suddenly so invigorated.
Here’s a shot of one corner of my paradise, what do you think?
I remember saying to Jesu (those who don’t know who Jesu is - he’s my lovely hubby) that wished I could just move my kitchen out there in the middle of my garden to do all my cooking.
I have to repeat myself and say that I truly love 
my garden very much in April, May and June especially and of course the sexy gardener that I’ve now known for quite some time. I have had two lovely kids with and shared my last 14 years (soon 15). I did not marry him for his garden skills though 
- that was just a bonus, another bonus, through many others. Lucky me! I know!
It might sound like a trivial thing but I do appreciate it, big time and small things like this sometimes bring us a lot of joy, happiness and sense of contentment, don’t they? I think it should.
I picked up a couple of lovage stems and had a bigger fillet of fresh salmon, a nice bunch of beautiful organic Swiss chard, kids expressed their wish, they fancied pasta, thus I had to make everyone happy.
Here’s how this gorgeous and so vibrant salmon warm salad was born.
It is such a refreshing dish with a great mix of textures to which that cute little acini de Pepe pasta -the size of peppercorns looking like giant couscous- adds to, beautifully.
This cute ’n nice pasta makes kids so happy and gives the dish especially salads like this a really nice texture finding those tiny pasta grains all throughout. It’s just lovely.
We just love the tiny types of pastas like angels hair, this giant couscous type, the rice-like pasta called orzo, they are great for soups but also in salads and look so great! 
I hope you will enjoy eating this colourful swiss chard, salmon and fresh lovage warm salad as much as we do.
Swiss chard, salmon, turmeric and fresh lovage warm salad with acini de pepe pasta
Equipment
- pan
- chopping board
- knife
Ingredients
- 500 ml vegetable stock
- 400 g salmon cut into 4 fillets
- 240 g pasta I have used acini de pepe - giant couscous works too
- 150 g Swiss chard with stalks chopped into strips
- 1 medium red onion
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon fresh turmeric grated
- ½ teaspoon sea salt * see recipe notes
- ¼ teaspoon umami salt
- 1 pinch freshly ground black pepper
- ½ Thai red chilli optional
- 50 g pomegranate seeds
- 1 red pepper optional
- 3 tablespoon lovage finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon dill finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon parsley roughly chopped
- 1 lemon - its juice
Instructions
- Season the salmon with a little salt and pepper and set aside.
- Meanwhile wash, chop and prepare the ingredients that need preparing, onion, garlic, chard and wash the herbs - do not chop the herbs till the end.
- Heat the olive oil in a larger and deeper pan over medium high heat. Place the salmon skin side down and cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side until the salmon is nicely cooked through.
- Remove the salmon from the pan and place on a warm plate placing another warm deep plate over. Foil will also do.
- Add the julienned onion in the pan where the salmon was and cook for 2 min stirring occasionally. Add the garlic, stir for another minute and add the pasta and toast it for 90 seconds stirring every 20-30 seconds.
- Add the stock and bring it to a boil. Lover the heat and cook (covered) for 7-8 minutes. No need to stir.
- Stir the pasta, add a drizzle of water if too dry but remember this has to be dry as it’s nice with no juices left. Add the turmeric, chard followed by the julienned pepper (if chose to put in- I did). Cook for 2 more minutes or more if you wish but I like my veggies slightly crispy and only just about wilted.
- Remove from the heat and mix in the freshly chopped herbs, squeeze the juice from one lemon, season well with the umami salt give it another good old mix.
- Bring on the salmon, sprinkle the pomegranate seeds all over, add a drizzle of olive oil even if you prefer and a few slices of chilli if fancy and serve. Soo good and totally taste buds blowing!!
Notes
Nutrition
Michelle says
This recipe is beautiful! It looks so fresh and bright, I can't wait to try it soon!
Ramona says
Thank you Michelle.
Emily @Sinful Nutrition says
I love all things to do with salmon! This dish is so colorful and bright that I want to dive right in!
Ramona says
Thank you Emily!
Danielle says
You've got such a wonderful garden. It is easy to see how much care and attention it gets from you. And the recipe is incredibly delicious, too - I bet it tastes even better with the ingredients grown in your own garden! 😉
Ramona says
Hi Danielle, you are absolutely right. Home grown ingredients taste a lot better. Thank you so much for your lovely comment.
Heidy L. McCallum says
Oh man, this Swiss Chard and Salmon looks wonderful. I bet my family would devour this recipe in a heart beat. I'm so excited to make this today.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Heidy for your lovely feedback - my family loves this too and it really goes in a heart beat 😉
Geetha Priyanka says
Colourful salad sounds so flavourful and delicious. Your garden and flowers are so beautiful. Great share...
Ramona says
Thank you soo much Geetha, I am so glad you like the recipe. Have a great week lovely!
Julie says
How gorgeous!!! Your gardens are stunning and there is so much yumminess in this recipe. I love the salmon and all the fresh flavors.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Julie, my gardener is to praise and he is doing a great job, I like him a lot for that too ;-)) lol
Katie Crenshaw | A Fork's Tale says
This salad is absolutely beautiful. The healthy flavorful combinations sound so delicious. I am definitely adding this to my dinner menu to try this week. YUM!
Ramona says
Hi Katie, thank you very much for your kind words, it really is a delicious salad indeed, let me know if you have tried it.
Beth says
I don't know why I have never grown lovage! It grows very well here and I love it!! Your gardens are delightful! Salmon is our favorite fish so I will be making this!
Ramona says
Thank you soo much Beth, I am truly delighted you like this recipe - let me know when you have done it, if you made any changes, how you liked it. Thank you again.
Patty says
Lovely garden and congrats to the gardener Ramona, lol! Your salad looks so so delicious and your pictures are gorgeous! I had to inquire about the lovage and learnt that it's the ancestor of celery, so I'll use another aromatic herb when making your wonderful recipe!
Ramona says
Thank you soo much Patty, yes indeed, lovage is celery’s grandpa 😉 a truly lovely flavoured herb that I love dearly. I still have some in the garden that I will need to freeze to make sure I have a little more of this beautiful herb. Of course, any aromatic herb will do in this recipe and whenever I do not have fresh lovage, I use dill since this pairs fabulously with salmon.
Aleka Shunk says
Oh wow your garden is beautiful! This dish looks amazing. I love this pasta too! Its so versatile!
Ramona says
Thank you Aleka, I’ve got a kind and talented gardener ?. Agreed, it’s such a nice one that I could just have again and again. ?
Loyola says
Love everything about this delicious, colorful salad, and your garden is so beautiful.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Loyola, My gardener doesn’t want to disappoint you see, he’s doing a great job. As far as this salad is concerned.... I do agree, it is beautiful and colourful and so truly delicious. I do hope you will make it soon. Have a great weekend! xx
Nikole says
Your food photography and garden are beautiful!
Ramona says
Thank you so much Nikole 😉 I really appreciate it.
Beth says
I just love your gardens! They are awesome! This is such a gorgeous, seasonal dish! I would love to have some for my lunch!
Ramona says
Thank you Beth - I will send you over some of this for lunch 😉 - have a wonderful weekend!
Beth says
Wow, your gardens are lovely! I'm jealous that you married well! Mine does not like gardening so I'm on my own. This dish looks so flavorful and delicious! I haven't grown lovage.Im not sure I've ever had it!
Ramona says
Hi Beth thank you so much for your comment and for your compliments towards my garden and my Gardiner, ha ha yes I’m lucky he likes the garden because I’m not so much into gardening. This dish is super delicious - if you come across lavaged try it it’s very nice indeed and I’m sure you can grow it in your own garden you might be able to find seeds that are being sold in supermarkets. You never know.
Have a lovely Sunday! ??
Caroline says
I love all the colors in the dish and it sounds lovely and fresh. Don't think 've ever cooked with lovage but looks a good way to give it a try!
Ramona says
Thank you so much Caroline I’m so glad you liked this recipe and I hope you will make it soon, it’s soo delicious with all without lovage.
Marisa Franca says
What a gorgeous salad!! I have to admit I haven't tasted or used lovage before. I'm always excited about using new ingredients so this one is next on the list. We try to eat salmon often so this recipe would be great especially since I'm trying to use more turmeric.
Ramona says
Thank you so much Marisa, I am so glad you like the salad recipe, oh, lovage is wonderful. I really hope you will get to make and therfore taste this recipe, I am sure you will absolutely love it. Have a wonderful weekend!