A delicate fish dish which will impress any dinner party guests – and it’s healthy, too
Ingredients
- 200g (7oz) green beans, trimmed1 fennel bulb
- A good handful of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 4 x 125g (4oz) salmon fillets
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- Salt and ground black pepper
- 12 cooked new potatoes, sliced, for serving
- For the anchovy dressing:
- 1 small clove garlic, peeled and crushed
- 4-6 anchovy fillets
- 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- Freshly ground black pepper
Method
To make the anchovy dressing: pound the garlic with the anchovies to a paste, add the oil (use some of the oil from the can of anchovies, if you prefer) and vinegar, and season with pepper. Whisk to make a thick dressing.
Add the green beans to a pan of boiling water, bring back to the boil and cook for 2-3 minutes until just tender. Drain well and cool in iced water. Meanwhile, slice the fennel as finely as you can. Put into a bowl and stir in the beans and the chopped parsley.
Heat a frying pan over a medium heat for a couple of minutes. Cut each salmon fillet in half, brush with oil and season well. Fry the salmon pieces, skin-side down, for around 30 seconds. Then turn on to their sides and cook for 2 minutes more. Turn them all over and cook for another minute until just tender but still pink in the middle. Remove from the pan and set aside for a couple of minutes, while you arrange slices of potato and the fennel salad on serving plates. Place pieces of fish on top of each plate and spoon the dressing over.
Top tip for making Salmon with fennel & green beans salad and anchovy dressing
Use sugar-snap peas or mangetout instead of beans, if you prefer. This salad goes well with most types of fish.
