Ingredient of the Week: Quick appetizers with Smoked Salmon

As the new year ramps up, it’s time to get back into the swing of things; this means most everyone is busy, and looking for ways to make quick, healthy food.

Chef Tom Douglas recommends checking out the smoked fish department in Whole Foods to spice up your appetizers, and make them fit into your busy schedule. “It’s salmon, always,” he says, and you always have choices between wild and farmed and lox or smoked salmon.

Chef Thierry Rautureau says his favorite thing to do is to grab the pre-sliced smoked salmon. “It’s easy to come home and toast a few slices of bread with a little crème fraîche on the bottom, salt, pepper, and put the salmon on top of that. You’ve got a beautiful sandwich,” he says. “It’s very simple. If you have capers or pickles in the fridge, it creates that bite” on your sandwich.

Katie O recommends using smoked salmon on a rice cake with toasted nori around it.

Tom adds that, if you’re trying to make nice ribbons of smoked salmon, you should temper the salmon first. “It’s really hard to break it off into nice ribbons when it’s cold,” he says.

Whole Foods Markets are a proud sponsor of Seattle Kitchen’s Ingredient of the Week.