Green and Gorgeous Smoked Mackerel Salad

Whenever I make this salad, it always takes me back a few years to the time and place when we (or rather – my daughter) had it for the first time. A few years ago we went away for a couple of  days to a  pretty little town that in season buzzes  with life but when we were there – it was winter – it was pretty quiet and empty. We were a bit concerned, if we would be able to find an open nice place we could eat, but as we walked along we found heaven: a really amazing slow food restaurant. We had many wonderful dishes there, as we obviously would go there every day, but it was this healthy salad that stayed with us as a memory of that short holiday.

The main reason why this dish has been so memorable may be that I was just so happy that my daughter, who at that time hardly ate any raw vegetables, ordered that salad and loved it! So obviously I quickly worked out my own version and included it in menus at our home. We still love it nowadays as it is a pretty straightforward dish made from simple green ingredients (lettuce, apples, fennel)  that work together perfectly despite the fact that combining smoked mackerel and honey may not be the obvious choice!

INGREDIENTS (for 2 big portions):

1 smoked mackerel,

0.5 Iceberg lettuce, thorn into small pieces,

0.5 fennel bulb, thinly shredded,

1 big green apple (e.g. Golden delicious), quartered and thinly sliced,

3 tbsp olive oil,

1 tbsp + 1 tsp acacia honey,

1 tbsp white wine vinegar,

salt and pepper.

METHOD:

1. Prepare the mackerel: with 2 forks (or your fingers) open the fish in the middle; take out a bone from the middle and remove all the little bones; separate small pieces of the fish from the skin and put them on a clean plate.
2. In a big bowl mix the lettuce, fennel and apple.
3. Make the dressing by stirring together the olive oil, vinegar and 1 tbsp honey, season.
4. Pour the dressing over the vegetables, mix well and move onto a big serving plate (or 2 small ones).
5. Arrange the pieces of mackerel on top of the salad mix, drizzle everything with the 1 tsp of honey.