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Avocado Blackberry Dressing with Salmon on Friseé and Baby Red Lettuce

A salad featuring frisée and baby red lettuce topped with seared salmon, avocado, tomatoes, onions, and a dressing of avocado, olive oil, vinegar, mayonnaise, and blackberries.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 22 ingredients
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Why it works: Avocado and salmon work together. They rank in the top 5% of all ingredient pairs, and 183 recipes mention both. Both carry guaiacol, which smells smoky, sweet. The science ↓

The recipe

serves 4

Ingredients

Contains: egg, fish (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Make the dressing

  1. In a blender or food processor, combine avocado, olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, mayonnaise, blackberries, garlic, and kosher salt, and blend until smooth.

  2. Pour the dressing into a jar and refrigerate until ready to use.

  3. If using frozen blackberries, drain them well before blending into the dressing; if fresh blackberries are not sweet enough, sprinkle sugar to taste before blending.

Prepare and sear the salmon

  1. Prepare the avocados, tomatoes, onions, lemons, and limes; set aside and keep chilled until ready to plate.

  2. In a 10-inch iron or heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of oil until very hot; test with a drop of water, which should sizzle.

  3. Combine all the ground peppers (or use a commercial blend of Cajun or blackened seasoning).

  4. Cut the salmon fillet into four equal pieces, drizzle each piece with fresh lemon juice, coat with the blackened seasoning, and sear in the skillet for 3–4 minutes per side or until flaky.

Assemble and serve

  1. Toss the dressing over the baby lettuce leaves to coat. Divide the salad onto four chilled glass plates, then top each with a salmon piece and arrange onion rings on the fillets.

  2. Garnish each plate with sliced avocado, tomatoes, and hard-cooked eggs (if using), alternating the slices.

  3. Place remaining fresh blackberries, quartered lemon and lime on each plate and sprinkle paprika for color. Serve immediately.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

This recipe comes from the Recipes Wiki on Fandom and is licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Our formatting and summaries are shared under the same licence.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Avocado + salmontop 5% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together183 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  2. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together14,164 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  3. Garlic + oniontop 1% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together29,030 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Avocado + tomatotop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together1,385 recipes

    Shared aroma: guaiacol (smoky, sweet).

  5. Avocado + lettucetop 2% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together464 recipes

    Shared aroma: trans-2-hexenal (green, leafy).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Avocado
Adds creamy body and richness to the dressing and rich garnish slices.
Olive oil
Provides fat that carries flavor and gives the dressing a smooth, emulsified texture.
Mayonnaise
Emulsifies the dressing and adds creaminess and body.
Balsamic vinegar
Adds acidity and a sweet-tart depth to the dressing.
Salmon fillet
Main protein, cooked by searing to form a browned crust while staying flaky inside.
Blackberries
Add fruity sweetness and tartness to the dressing and plate.

The step that matters

Heating the skillet until very hot before searing the salmon. A very hot, dry-enough pan browns the salmon surface quickly through the Maillard reaction, building flavor and a crust before the inside overcooks. A cool pan steams the fish and makes it stick.

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (egg, avocado, olive, red wine, vinegar, garlic, tomato):

  1. Cucumberbetter flavor fit
  2. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  3. Onionthe original
  4. Potatoabout as good a flavor fit

Fit is the average pairing score against egg, avocado, olive, red wine, vinegar, garlic, tomato. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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