Salmon Salad: A tasty way to get your Omega-3s

Suddenly it seems a nouveau bourgeoisie bohemian affect is fashionable everywhere, even on the table. The economy is hitting everyone hard. The "formerly wealthy" ethos is the hip new thing. So feel free to pepper your conversation with little gems such as "Oh is this what it looks like in economy seating, I had no idea" and "I miss my Lexus, but one just can't overlook the fuel efficiency of a hybrid."

Salmon salad served on wheat crackers as an appetizer. Also try it on sourdough or a bagel for a tasty lunch sandwich.

This attitude is also cutting into traditional gourmet standards for food. Many of my favorite recipe books are filled with such high taste (but somewhat obvious) statements as "X, of the highest quality possible" or "X, fresh and organic." But even these standards are getting reinterpreted for most folks in light of the new economic situation. The flagrant excesses of traditional gourmet ingredients now seem a bit, well, excessive.

Salmon is a wonderful fish with a well deserved spot on most lists of "superfoods." It is high in those healthy Omega-3 fatty acids (including DHA, which promotes brain development in infants, if you happen to be a pregnant woman interested in such things). But unlike so many of our ocean fishes, salmon poses less of a concern for high mercury levels. So it from a health perspective, salmon helps you eat your way out from between the rock and the hard place.

In addition to being fantastically healthy for you, salmon is not exactly as cheap as many of the more common white fishes available at the supermarket fish counter. What's a gal to do? Honestly, as per traditional gourmet standards, I am quite certain that this recipe, which features the salmon so centrally, will excell if you use the highest quality salmon available. So if your pocketbook will still allow, I implore you to use "salmon, Alaskan wild caught salmon, fresh from a quality fishmonger, pan seared at home and then chilled" But if, like me, you are a quasi-impoverished graduate student living on somewhat finite means, feel free to consider that it just might be the hip new thing to use "Salmon, alaskan wild, in a can."

Salmon Salad

1 lb cooked salmon, chilled and shredded (or 1 14.5 oz can)
1/2 cup finely diced celery (2 small stalks)
2 Tbsp finely diced yellow onion (approx 1/3 small onion)
1 Tbsp fresh dill, minced
1 Tbsp capers
1 Tbsp champagne vinegar (ok to sub white wine vin)
1/2 tsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp kosher salt
freshly ground tricolor pepper (ok to use black only)

Combine all ingredients. Taste, and adjust seasoning to your taste. Serve with crackers, bagels, or sourdough.