Smoked Mackerel Salad with Spinach and Clementine

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

A delicious salad, bursting with flavour and packed with vitamins, minerals, omega-3s and proteins. Ready in just 5 minutes!

Feeling a bit under the weather? I mean, literally. I get you, I really do, it’s not quite summer yet, but the lovely sun making its appearance is telling us it won’t be long..hopefully! This salad is an ode to summer, during winter weather! It’s the perfect dish for those sunny days that are still a bit chilly. You know that feeling when it starts to get a bit warmer and you suddenly get motivated and feel like eating something light and healthy? When you wish it was that strawberries and peaches time of the year, but then you realize it’s still oranges and winter fruits’ season? Well, this salad might just be what you are looking for! The combination of sweet and juicy clementines with the smoky flavour of the mackerel it’s absolutely H-E-A-V-E-N-L-Y! This salad bursts with flavour and it’s packed with goodness too! Let’s talk a bit more about that.

The main ingredients used are smoked mackerel, clementines, spinach leaves, extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and pumpkin seeds. Ok, where should we start..? Mmmh..

The spinaches! Oh, the famous Pop-Eye superfood! Although Pop-Eye thought they were an excellent source of iron and would give him strength, that’s not exactly why I would recommend them. Yes, they do contain iron, but not huge amounts of it! They are, however, an excellent source of vitamin A, K, C, Folate, manganese and magnesium. Yes, a proper superfood! And together with the clementines, you can be sure you are not missing out on any vitamin C when eating this salad! In fact, one portion of this will provide 185% of your daily allowance of vitamin C. Not bad, hey? And did you know that iron absorption is increased with the assumption of vitamin C? I bet nobody ever told Pop-Eye to eat its spinaches with a bit of clementines and lemon juice! 😉

One of the reason why I chose to use clementines, is because this time of the year, they can easily be picked up at a very good price, plus I had loads at home that needed to be eaten! We don’t like to waste any food here!

Smoked mackerel is a great budget-friendly dose of Omega-3 fatty acids, the good fats. You should aim to consume two portions of oily fish, such as mackerel, salmon and sardines, twice a week. Well, this is one portion you can tick off your list! If you can stretch a bit more money, you could swap the smoked mackerel for smoked salmon in this salad, it would tastes delicious too! Anyways, smoked mackerel costs only 80p per 100g, which is the portion required in this recipe for 1 person. It is also a great source of protein, vitamin B12, selenium and magnesium.

Do you want to know another great fact about this dish? It literally takes 5 minutes to prepare it! Enjoy it for a healthy lunch or take it with you to work and bring a bit of sunshine to your workplace! 🙂

Ingredients (Serves 2)

4 clementines
100g fresh spinach leaves
200g smoked mackerel fillets, pre-cooked
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 Tbsp lemon juice, freshly squeezed
pumpkin seeds, to serve (optional)
salt

Directions

First, make the dressing. Use 3 of the clementines, peel them and cut each slice in half. With your hands, or use a fork if you want, squeeze all the juice out of each slice into a small bowl. Keep the remaining of the slice and throw that in the bowl as well. Add the olive oil, lemon juice and a a pinch of salt. Stir well.
Prepare the salad, by mixing the spinach leaves with half of the mackerel, flaked. Cut the remaining clementine into thin slices and add to the salad. Top with the remaining half of the whole mackerel fillet, the dressing and a bunch of pumpkin seeds. Enjoy!