A burger swimming with flavour
Give local, sustainable seafood some thought with this ‘super easy’ salmon dish from celebrity chef Bell
In conjunction with the 10th annual B.C. Shellfish and Seafood Festival, which is ongoing this month in Comox Valley on Vancouver Island, Coast Fresh brings you a month of seafood recipes created by some of B.C’s top chefs.
Our third instalment features Chef Ned Bell of the Yew Restaurant at the Four Seasons Hotel in Vancouver and founder of Chefs For Oceans.
“When it comes to creating dishes, I am inspired by food direct from local farms and the oceans and rivers,” said Bell, who has initiated a petition to make March 18 of every year National Sustainable Seafood Day.
“Healthy oceans and rivers and responsible aquaculture is the only way to sustaining two billion people,” he said, adding “when shopping and dining out, ask the question, ‘Is this sustainably sourced?’”
Bell created this recipe to welcome the summer’s grilling season.
“This recipe is super easy and is fantastic with warm potato salad or cooked lentils, baked or grilled tofu, scallops or chilled prawns,” said Bell. Ned Bell’s Coho Salmon Burger Choose your favourite bun; soft, but a bit crusty is best. Have some butter lettuce and shaved fennel set aside for garnishing. 4 filets Golden Eagle Coho Salmon
Green Chick Pea & Zucchini Pesto
3 cups (750 mL) green chick peas,
thawed 2 cups (500 mL) grated zucchini,
seeds removed, green skin on 2 cups (500 mL) fresh basil 3 cloves garlic ¼ cup (50 mL) walnuts (substitute with pine nuts, cashews, hazelnuts or almonds) ½ cup (125 mL) extra virgin
olive oil ½ cup (125 mL) grated Parmesan 1 tbsp (15 mL) sea salt 1 tbsp (15 mL) cracked black pepper 1 lemon, juice and zest Puree all these ingredients in a Vita Mix blender. Check for seasoning and adjust with sea salt and black pepper.
Lemon Mayo
1 cup (250 mL) mayonnaise Zest and juice of one lemon 1/8 tsp (0.5 mL) fennel pollen (optional), this will give the mayo and the burger a wonderful floral citrusy flavour. Mix in a bowl aside for assembling. To cook and build the burger: For the burger, season the salmon filets with sea salt and cracked black pepper. Grill, barbecue or bake your salmon filets until cooked medium, approximately 4 minutes per side. Assemble the burger with pesto, salmon, lemon mayo and garnish.
This story was produced by the Sunday Province’s editorial department as a result of Coast Fresh’s interest in this topic. Coast Fresh did not put restrictions on the content or review it.