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This pistachio salmon salad has a Middle Eastern feel with baby spinach, quinoa, chickpeas, carrots, dates and spicy harissa dressing. It’s a delicious meal-sized salad that will fill you up without weighing you down. Gluten-free.
I’m excited to be teaming up with Dole Fresh Vegetables as an ambassador again this year. They provided me with organic salad samples for the purpose of this post, as well as compensation for my time. As always, all opinions are my own.
I know I say this constantly, but I think I’ve found my new favorite salad! Perfectly baked salmon with a pistachio crust, sweet dates, crunchy carrots, chickpeas and quinoa all with a spicy harissa dressing… what more could you ask for?
Seriously though, I feel like this salad is something you’d find on the menu at a nice restaurant. It’s THAT good! The variety of flavors and textures, plus the fact that it’s meal-sized and filling allows you to have it for dinner and feel 100% satisfied instead of deprived or hungry again in a couple hours.
The combo of the pistachio crusted salmon with the dates, chickpeas and harissa dressing gives this salad a Mediterranean/Middle Eastern feel that I simply adore. Everything is so fresh with a nice balance of sweet, savory and spicy.
If you’re unfamiliar with harissa, it’s a spicy chile paste that’s used in North African and Middle Eastern cooking. I am obsessed with the stuff and put it on everything… I even use it like a dip for carrots! It’s really spicy but so good! We like the Cava brand, but Trader Joe’s sells it as well. If you’re having trouble finding it, check the ethnic section of your grocery store or your local Middle Eastern market. You could also get fancy and make homemade harissa.
If you don’t like spicy things, I’d recommend skipping the harissa dressing and trying my zesty tahini dressing instead.
The base of the salad is a big pile of Dole® Organic Super Spinach. Because spinach is on the 2017 dirty dozen list I’m always looking for organic options and this variety is unique because it’s a blend of organic baby kale, baby chard, mizuna and baby spinach. The mizuna has a mild peppery flavor which gives the blend a bold and zesty flavor that I love! Added bonus, the organic blends are sold at Kroger, which is where I do most of my shopping these days.
Everyone at team EBF has been loving this salad. I’ve made it a couple times and Maria has made it for her family twice already. We hope you love it as much as we do!
If you make this pistachio salmon salad with harissa dressing, please be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Your feedback is super helpful for the EBF team and other readers who are thinking about making the recipe.
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Loved this salad. The combination of the spicy Harrisa and sweetness of the dates was đŸ‘Œ. I added cucumber to bulk out the salad. Can I just check the calorie count for this recipe – 704 calories seems quite high for one portion?
I’m so glad you’re loving this salad, Catherine! Thanks for bringing that to my attention, we’ll look into that!
Brittany, this salad is great!! It comes together quickly, and all of the ingredients work well together.
The dressing was too spicy for me though, even only using 1 T of the harissa paste. I’ll use another dressing the next time. The only changes I made were to use half of the quinoa and to grill the salmon.
I’m so glad you loved this salad, Connie. Thanks for the review. I appreciate it!
What a beautiful and unique salad! Anything with salmon has me in love đŸ˜‰ Thanks for sharing such a fun salad recipe!
Thank you, Ruth! I hope you get a chance to try the salad soon. đŸ™‚
Wow! Harissa is a new one to me but sounds like we were made for each other!
I think you will love it, Andrew. You can find the Cava brand at Whole Foods and Ellwoods here in Richmond. đŸ™‚
This sounds amazing!
Thank you!! It’s really delicious, easy and filling!