As we head into the holiday season, it’s handy to have a few healthy appetizers and snacks up our sleeves for guilt-free meals and nibbling before and between festivities. Hot-smoked salmon salad should be on your list. It’s a healthy, elegant, and seriously tasty salad—served chilled, despite the name—that is delightfully versatile and can be easily made in advance of serving.
The key to the recipe is to use hot-smoked salmon, not cold-smoked salmon. What’s the difference? While both methods rely on using super-fresh salmon, the main difference is the smoking temperature. Cold-smoked salmon is smoked at a lower temperature, approximately 80 degrees F, which imparts a mild smoky flavor without cooking the fish. The result is a fresh, moist texture, which is similar to sashimi.
