Salmon with fennel & green beans salad and anchovy dressing recipe

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

1. 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.