I’m sharing this wild salmon salad sandwich in the Sandwich Round-Up. Like many of my dishes, it is simple. I like simple. Sometimes, when I see gourmet dishes with someone’s special flair, I feel a bit sheepish that everything I do is pretty basic. That extra flair is special and unique and definitely a gift I do not possess! And while I can appreciate and admire that in someone else’s cooking, it doesn’t mean coming back to simple ingredients is any less satisfying, healthy, or worth doing. That’s my little pep talk to myself; thanks for listening! 
For awhile now, we’ve been getting Vital Choice canned wild red (sockeye) salmon. At first, I just wanted to try it out. We’d been buying other wild salmon. The Vital Choice salmon is different — better different. Previously, Jeff had asked me not to give him wild salmon for his packed lunch, to avoid spreading a fishy smell in his office. The Vital Choice salmon isn’t fishy. The first time we ate it, Jeff said, without my asking, “Now this kind of fish you can pack in my lunch.” (It is in his lunch today, as a matter of fact.)
I choose the red (sockeye) salmon in the traditional style which includes edible bones and skin for more calcium. Can you see any bones or skin in my sandwich up there? Exactly. They’re there to give you the benefit, but no one knows it when the salmon is all mixed up. In addition, the wild red (sockeye) salmon provides abundant amounts of Vitamin D and omega-3 fatty acids, including EPA and DHA.
We’ve continued to buy the wild red salmon from Vital Choice because we like it so much. It is more spendy, but not much. Buy 24 of the 7.5 ounce cans for $94 (shipping is free if you add $5 more to your cart) and that works out to $3.92 per can, compared with $3.23 for the Red Head Wild Red Salmon from Azure. Please note that I am an affiliate for Vital Choice; I gladly support a company that provides high-quality foods such as this canned wild red salmon.
Anyway, so my “recipe” for Wild Salmon Salad is…
- 2 cans wild red salmon, drained
- handful of small diced cubes of raw cheese (optional)
- 2 to 3 tablespoons homemade mayonnaise*
- pinches of salt, to taste
- pinch of black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of dried garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon of dried dill
Combine all ingredients and mix gently. No need to mash it, leave it flaky. Adjust seasonings to taste. We love to eat this on Erin’s sourdough English muffins spread with more homemade mayonnaise.
*My mayonnaise has a bit of mustard in it; otherwise, I would add 1/2 teaspoon of Dijon mustard to the salmon salad, too.
What about you? How do you like to eat salmon? What do put in your salmon salad? Have you tried the wild red salmon (or other fish) from Vital Choice? Please join me here tomorrow for the Sandwich Round-Up!
About Wardee Harmon
New: 
Two hard 'g's and stress the middle syllable. 
hey Wardee,
i just made this today and it was great – easy to take lunch! my question is what do you do with the skins?? my can had a lot in there. do you eat them or remove? thanks. =) megan
.-= Megan´s last blog post… Why buying eggs at the farm can be really fun… =-.
Megan – I keep them in and mix it all up – they don’t even show – look in the picture. Do you see any? I think it is a great lunch, too! I give it to my husband about once per week and sometimes for the kids and I when we have a day out. We also usually have a family meal once on the weekends with this salmon. So good!
Yummy!
You should know Wardee, that many of the items I make each week are things I get off your site. Your simple foods work for me!
I haven’t tried anything from Vital Choice but I hope to in the near future. I love your pep talk to yourself. As you know, I do mostly simple too and am almost embarrassed sometimes to post my pictures of our simple foods. I don’t even have cute garnishes on my stuff
.-= Millie @ Real Food for Less Money´s last blog post… Quick and Easy Lunch or Light Dinner Ideas =-.
Thanks, Millie. You and I have alot in common. I would love to spend a week at your house and eat your simple foods. Everything I’ve tried of yours has been wonderful. We especially like your butterscotch rice…. mmm….
Hey, if you haven’t already, you should definitely include Kara Bagley’s tuna melts! They are fabulous. Our family will really enjoy your recipe as well, I’m sure! Thanks. Salmon is one of my boys’ favorites.
.-= April´s last blog post… Getting Started =-.
April – Hi! Thanks for recommending Kara’s melts. I will give her a friendly prod to contribute them tomorrow!
I love your simple food!
Thank you, Kelli!
Wardee, I love this recipe. I’ve been trying to use more canned salmon for our lunches. Will definitely try this!!
.-= Diana@Spain in Iowa´s last blog post… Spain in Iowa Meets Fresh, Local and Best =-.
Diana – I think you’ll like it! BTW, you’re one of those with special flair that I admire.
Wardee, last year I bought a case of canned salmon from a local fishing family and we are almost done with it. We eat canned salmon salad sandwiches all the time just like this and I love the crunchy bits from the bones. Maybe I’m weird though. These look great! But salmon/tuna melts sound really good too…
.-= Sustainable Eats´s last blog post… Happy Earth Day! =-.
Annette (Sustainable Eats) – How great you can get great wild salmon from a local fishing family. I was thinking today how nice that would be for us. Since I saw that hippie fishmonger Captain Jack, my mind has been turning to wondering what other options I have locally. I like the crunchy bits, too, and melts… mmm…
I just made a salmon pate today that I’ll stuff into sausages tomorrow – amazing. Salmon, egg white, cream, salt, pepper and chives. I’m thinking it would also make nice hand pies or little tiny tarts if I had time.
The salmon is caught in Alaska. They do also fish Puget Sound but after reading about toxin levels I’m choosing to only buy their Alaska caught fish. It’s so sad!
We don’t eat any fish from China anymore. Our salmon is wild alaskan salmon from the Bear & Wolf company and is a product of the USA. Bear & Wolf is distributed through Trident Seafoods, Corp which provides sustainable, USA sources of fish. We buy the Bear & Wolf from Costco at $8.99 for 6 cans at 6 oz each. There is no fishy smell, no bones or skin. We LOVE this salmon and use it in many of our dishes. I prefer to make simple dishes, too, Wardee! We follow the K.I.S.S. rule in our kitchen, as in Keep It Super Simple!
Holly – That is a GREAT deal on salmon- oh, my! There’s a Costco coming to town but I was not going to sign up… perhaps will consider now! Do they have a version WITH bones/skin?
Yes, Costco offers a version with the bones and skin, but I don’t know what brand it is. I’ve tried with the bones before and even if the bones are edible, I’m not able to handle it going done my throat so well. I must be really picky. lol
Being a dry-land gal, this is new to me. I rarely buy canned fish because I don’t know what is good – but it would definitely be easier to get than the real thing. I’ll be looking into this. Salmon is a family favorite and I think they would enjoy Salmon Salad! Yumm!
Wardee -
I was looking at the Vital Choice website. Is their tuna good? And if so, which one – there were so many choices. I did find the salmon. I love the free shipping for large orders!! How do you get credit for my purchase? Do you have a link I need to go through? Thanks!
Connie
Connie – I have not tried the tuna, but I’m sure it is good.
In order for me to get credit for your order, place your order after clicking on one of the Vital Choice links up in my post. That’s it!