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Harvest Salmon Salad for a Fall Healthy Meal

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This Harvest Salmon Salad is a healthy, quick-fix meal for lunch or dinner. It’s a delicious assortment of flavor and texture with grilled salmon, sweet potatoes, avocado, greens, and more. It’s fall-season healthy food in the most delicious, easy-to-make way.

Side view of Harvest Salmon Salad in a wood plate with sweet potatoes, blueberries, and greens

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Even in the fall, I’m reaching for healthy, easy-to-make salads filled with bite-sized delicious morsels. Inspired by a grilled power salad from Lake Oswego Grill, I’ve slightly paired it down for quick and easy meal-making at home.

What to Love About This Salmon Salad

  • It’s a whole meal in salad form with protein, healthy fats, and lots of vegetables.
  • Fall inspired it combines roasted vegetables, grilled salmon, and lots of flavor and texture.
  • An easy salad to prep ahead and assemble in minutes.

Top 5 Salmon Health Benefits

Salmon is incredibly delicious and packed with protein and nutrients to help support a healthy lifestyle.

BBC Good Food recently posted an article on how the following benefits of salmon may help support a healthy life in these areas:

  • Healthy heart: Oily fish like salmon are rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which help contribute to heart health and help maintain skin, joints, and hormonal balance.
  • Brain function: Studies suggest regular consumption reduces age-related brain loss and may improve memory – it’s the omega-3 fatty acids that are responsible for this.
  • Anti-inflammatory: Salmon can help reduce the effects of inflammation, key to helping manage and reduce chronic diseases like diabetes and cancer.
  • Protective: Protective antioxidants in salmon may help lower the risk of heart disease by improving cholesterol and working with the omega-3 fatty acids to protect the brain and nervous system.
  • Healthy aging: Salmon is a good source of protein, which is important for maintaining bone health, preventing muscle loss, and helping the body heal and repair. 
Top view of Harvest Salmon Salad on a wooden salad plate with mini pumpkins in the background.

Harvest Salmon Salad Ingredients

While this recipe should serve two, it’s easy to increase the servings by adding more salmon and greens. The exact ingredient measurements are in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Salmon fillets: I like to choose 4-ounce filets.

Olive oil: This is generally my oil of choice but avocado oil works very well too and helps sear the salmon.

Sweet Potatoes: Sometimes markets label sweet potatoes as yams. I always choose the deepest color sweet potatoes I can find for maximum nutrients. However, in a pinch, I’ve also found cubed sweet potatoes in the freezer section that are ready for roasting. Saves a bunch of time and works well.

Greens: I’m using a mix of spinach and arugula but any healthy greens you like are just as good! I hate to say this because this is a fall-inspired salad, but if you’re looking for bagged greens, “spring mix” works well in this salad too.

Avocado: A great source of healthy fat and, as always a delicious salad addition.

Blueberries: I love adding blueberries to this salad as it brings a delicious unexpected sweet flavor to the dish.

Walnuts: I’m using salted and toasted walnuts, but (though not as healthy) candied walnuts (though not as healthy) are really tasty too!

Harvard Health says walnuts contain “polyunsaturated fatty acids, alpha-linolenic and linoleic acids, which may have anti-inflammatory effects that keep blood vessels healthy.”

Lemon Vinaigrette Dressing: Ingredients for this delicious vinaigrette are in the recipe card below. Store-bought dressing works too.

Grilling the Salmon

Season salmon fillets with salt and pepper, then heat oil in a large skillet or grill over medium-high heat. Place salmon on the grill, skin side up, and cook for 4 minutes, or until the flesh begins to brown. Flip the salmon and cook for another 4 to 5 minutes.

Prepping Salmon Salad Ahead

I mentioned earlier in the post that you can most definitely prep components of this salad ahead to make it a quick and easy assembly at mealtime.

  • Lemon Vinaigrette: If making your own dressing, I like to make it over the weekend to have for salads all week.
  • Roasted Sweet Potatoes: I like to roast the sweet potatoes ahead as they take 30 minutes in the oven to brown and cook. Reheat them just before serving.
Closeup side view of grilled salmon in Harvest Salmon Salad with greens, avocados, sweet potatoes, and blueberries.

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Healthy Harvest Salmon Salad

This Harvest Salmon Salad is a healthy, quick-fix meal for lunch or dinner. It's a delicious assortment of flavor and texture with grilled salmon, sweet potatoes, avocado, greens, and more. It's fall-season healthy food in the most delicious, easy-to-make way.
5 from 4 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Servings: 2

Ingredients 

  • 2 4-ounce salmon filets
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil extra virgin
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 2 cups sweet potatoes roasted
  • 4 cups salad greens (spinach, kale, arugula, etc)
  • 1 avocado chopped
  • 2 ounces walnuts (roasted, salted or candied)
  • 1/2 cup blueberries

Lemon Vinaigrette

  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 garlic minced
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/2 tsp honey
  • 1/3 cup olive oil extra virgin
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Make the Lemon Vinaigrette by whisking the ingredients together and store in a lidded jar in the refrigerator. This step can be done in advance.
  • To roast the sweet potatoes: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Chop the sweet potato into cubes and toss in 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread on a baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 30 minutes. This step can be done in advance and refrigerated until ready to make the salad.
  • To grill the salmon: Season with salt and pepper and heat oil in a large skillet or grill over medium-high heat. Place salmon on the grill, skin side up, for 4 minutes, or until the flesh begins to brown. Carefully turn and cook until it's done, about 4 to 5 minutes more.
  • In a salad bowl, toss the greens with the sweet potatoes. Top the salad with salmon, avocado, blueberries, and walnuts. Drizzle with lemon vinaigrette just before serving. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Notes

Lemon Vinaigrette:

This recipe makes 1/2 cup and keeps in the refrigerator for about a week. Delicious on salads all week!

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 439kcal | Carbohydrates: 58g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 127mg | Potassium: 1806mg | Fiber: 16g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 44229IU | Vitamin C: 70mg | Calcium: 150mg | Iron: 4mg

Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.

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Course: Main Course, Salad
Cuisine: American
Keyword: salmon salad, salmon salad recipe

One Comment

5 from 4 votes (3 ratings without comment)

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