When Daphne Oz cooks at home, she keeps it healthy and simple without sacrificing bold flavors.
As part of our exclusive video series, What I Really Cook For Dinner, The Chew host takes us on a tour of her New York City kitchen and shows what she really makes for dinner on a typical evening. “There’s always someone making very loud noises here, and I love it that way,” she says of her Manhattan dwelling.
Given that Oz has built her career around food, it’s no surprise that her kitchen is extremely well-equipped, including “the Cadillac of coffee makers,” a floor-to-ceiling wine fridge, and a very extensive spice collection. “I may be the only culinary person who’s a big believer in truffle salt,” she admits. “It gives you $500 worth of truffle flavor for the price of a few lattes.”
For dinner, the mother-of-two whips up a smoky salmon wedge salad with buttermilk dressing from her new cookbook, The Happy Cook. The dish is her healthier take on a B.L.T., with the smoked paprika on the salmon replicating the smoky flavor of bacon. Get her full recipe below!
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Smoky Salmon and Avocado Wedge Salad
Serves 4
Dressing:
½ cup buttermilk
3 tbsp. crème fraîche or Greek yogurt
1 tbsp. distilled white vinegar or fresh lime or lemon juice)
2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh tarragon
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh chives
1 tbsp. finely chopped fresh parsley
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. Freshly cracked black pepper
Salad:
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 tsp. smoked paprika
½ tsp. kosher salt
2 skin-on salmon fillets (6- to 8-oz. each, preferably center cut), pin bones removed
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1 small head of iceberg lettuce, quartered and cored
1 avocado, halved, pitted, and sliced
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
1 lime, cut into wedges for serving
1. To make the dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, crème fraîche, white vinegar, tarragon, chives, parsley, salt, and pepper to taste. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until serving.
2. To make the salad, adjust the oven rack to the upper-middle position and preheat the broiler to high. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
3. In a small bowl, mix together the olive oil, paprika, and salt. Coat the top and sides of the salmon with the paprika mixture and set the salmon fillets on the baking sheet.
4. Broil the salmon for 5 to 6 minutes, until the center is firm when pressed lightly. Brush or drizzle the maple syrup over each fillet and broil for 3 to 4 minutes longer, until the salmon flakes easily and is just turning opaque in the center.
5. Transfer the salmon to a plate to cool, then use a fork to pull the salmon into large flaky shards.
6. Set an iceberg wedge on each plate. Add a few avocado slices and tomatoes, then a mound of the flaked salmon. Spoon the dressing over the top and serve with a lime wedge.
