Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Salad {Avocado & Horseradish Cream}

Growing up in the Netherlands, Christmas dinner always opened with the same short lineup of starters: salmon salad, shrimp salad, and later carpaccio joined the rotation too. All delicious, all a little familiar by now.

A few holidays ago I wanted something different, not necessarily better, just something that felt like more of an occasion on the plate.

Smoked salmon is my husband's favorite, so that part of the direction was easy. What I landed on is essentially a deconstructed version of that same classic salmon salad: instead of piling everything into a bowl, I spread it out across the plate in ribbons and curls, with two creams piped on rather than stirred in. It looks like a proper celebration starter and it's genuinely one of the easier things on this site to make.

A deconstructed smoked salmon salad

This is the same combination behind the classic Dutch Christmas salmon salad: smoked salmon, a fresh, slightly sharp cucumber note, a little spice just taken apart and rebuilt on the plate instead of mixed in a bowl. And I almost forgot the vodka: a short marinade with lime is what gives the salmon its extra lift here, a combination that works just as well with cucumber as it does with the salmon itself.

Draping the ingredients across the plate instead of piling them into a bowl or glass turns this from "salad" into an actual eye-catcher - exactly the kind of starter that makes people think you spent longer on it than you did.

Why it works

Ten to fifteen minutes in the vodka is enough for the alcohol and salt to firm up the texture of the salmon slightly and mellow its saltiness, much longer than that and the vodka itself starts to dominate the flavor, which is why the recipe calls for drying the salmon straight after.

The lime in the marinade isn't just for flavor, either, it's an acid, and acid slows the enzyme reaction that turns cut avocado brown. Same reason the avocado cream goes into the piping bag right before serving and not an hour ahead, the lime buys you some time, just not forever.

Ingredients

• Smoked salmon: Choose salmon sliced in thin strips.Cut the smoked salmon smaller, when necessary to drape it around the plate.
• Vodka: an alcoholic drink that is slightly sweat due to the wheat (from which it's made). It combines wonderful with both the salmon and cucumber. If you're serving dinner to children you of course can't use Vodka. In that case omit the Vodka.
• Lime: is a great combination with smoked salmon because of it's acidity. In addition, it ensures that the avocado won't brown.
• Cucumber: the salty smoked salmon is in need of a fresh counterpart. And of course you can cut your cucumber small cubes, but making ribbons just looks quite a bit nicer. You can easily make cucumber ribbons by using a cheese slicer or potato/vegetable peeler.
• Avocado: with it's creamy flavor and green color it's delicious for this elegant plate.
• Sour cream: For both creams, use sour cream to enhance the creaminess.
• Horseradish: The horseradish gives a nice zing. I use prepared horseradish.
• Dill, capers, caper apples and radishes: the garnish. And with this garnish you can vary. But these garnish gives a nice color palette and beautiful structure.

How do you prepare smoked salmon and cucumber salad

Step 1 Marinate the smoked salmon. Slice the smoked salmon into small strips. Make a marinate with 6 tablespoons Vodka, the juice of ½ lime, and 1 teaspoon lime grate. Marinate the smoked salmon for about 15 minutes.

Step 2 prepare the horseradish cream. In a bowl mix, 3 tablespoons prepared horseradish with 2 tablespoons sour cream. Put it into a piping bag.

Step 3 prepare the avocado cream. Slice the avocado in half and remove the stone. Spoon the avocado flesh with a spoon out of the skin. Put in a blender and add 2 teaspoons lime juice and 3 tablespoons sour cream. Blend until smooth. Put into a piping bag.

Step 4 prepare the cucumber ribbons and make your plate. Wash the cucumber and put it in front of you. With a cheese slicer or vegetable peeler make thin strips of the cucumber. When you get to the seeds, you can't make any more strips (they will fall apart).

Take your plate and spread 3 strips of salmon over the plate in a crescent moon shape. In between drape the cucumber strings. That's the beginning of your smoked salmon and cucumber salad.

Grab your piping bag with avocado cream and make a few piles between the cucumber. Take the piping bag with horseradish cream and pipe a few nice tufts. Dress up your plate with capers and dill.

Recipe Tips & Substitutions

• If minors are eating with you? Don't marinate the smoked salmon (with the Vodka). Alcohol and kids are a no go.
• Marinate the salmon for 10 to 15 minutes in the Vodka but not longer. Otherwise, the Vodka will take over the salmon flavor. Therefore make sure you dry the smoked salmon after marinating.
• If you don't have horseradish, you can replace it with 2 teaspoons of Wasabi.
• The easiest way to prepare this dish is by putting the cream into a piping bag. But if you don't have one, use a teaspoon to place the cream on the plate.
• Any smoked salmon and cucumber leftovers? You can store it for up to 1 day in the refrigerator (covered with plastic foil). Or you can freeze it for up to 3 months in an airtight container.

Make Ahead

• You can marinate the smoked salmon in the morning and dry it. Put it on a clean plate covered with plastic foil and store it in the refrigerator.
• The horseradish cream can be made in the morning and stored in the piping bag in the refrigerator.
• The cucumber ribbons can also be prepared a few hours in advance. Bundle them and wrap in some wetted kitchen paper towel and then wrapped in plastic foil and store them in the refrigerator.
• The avocado cream CAN'T be made in advance, because it will brown.
• When you've put everything on the plate, serve immediately. Because you work with smoked salmon keep everything as cool as possible.

3 x Starters