Have you ever
craved a sandwich that combines the rich, buttery flavor of salmon, the
creamy goodness of avocado, the smoky crunch of bacon, and the fresh
burst of tomatoes and lettuce? I've got the perfect recipe for you: The
BLAST.
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| Yes, the avocado on here is sliced too thick. My mom was the one making this for her, so go wild if that's your thing! |
The
cold air and barren trees here are a continual reminder that my
enjoyable time outside in the sun is nearing it's end. That doesn't mean
I can't bring the taste of summer into the kitchen!
This massive sandwich, created by my partner and tweaked
just a little, is a perfect meal for two - or use my mock sourdough
recipe to make smaller buns and tuck into a single serving. The star of the BLAST is a thick, juicy salmon filet, seasoned to perfection with a blend of paprika and black pepper from the amazing Selefina Spices and grilled or broiled. As to the type of salmon - wild Pacific is our favourite, but we use Atlantic if it's not available or too expensive. Both are delicious! Paired with my homemade yogurt-dill sauce, this alone is a perfect addition to a meal!
Ideally, you want a nice crusty sourdough roll or hearty sourdough bread - something sturdy enough for the weight of the sandwich. My sourdough starter of almost 15 years died due to neglect in March (family emergencies > microbes) but I have a recipe for just-as-tangy mock sourdough that I use in a pinch. You can find it below, and I highly recommend it!
Once your sourdough (or mock sourdough), bacon of choice (we use turkey bacon exclusively here, but regular bacon is perfect too) and your salmon are prepared, A thin layer of yogurt-dill sauce is spread on both halves of the bun (or both slices of bread). Lettuce, tomato, salmon, bacon and avocado layer ontop - and the majority of the time it is quite the balancing act! You definitely want a large plate for this sandwich, since no matter how hard you try you'll get "escapee" bits. Word to the wise - you want thin slices of tomato and avocado here. Shingling the tomato and avocado slices helps keep them together a little better!
Of course, the variations on this are numerous. Here are a few my partner and I came up with:
- Toast the bread / buns and rub the "inside" parts with a cut clove of garlic
- Marinate the salmon in a lemon-garlic mixture
- Grill / broil the salmon on top of lemon slices
- Turn this into wraps using thick pitas or naan
While summer may be over, there's no reason we can't enjoy these with a perfectly paired drink! Henderson Brewing has both opened a RUSH themed bar in the YYZ airport and brought the RUSH themed beer into the USA, and given that my partner and I are huge RUSH fans I thought why not see what would play well? While the brewery has several RUSH beers that all sound delicious, the first release of Golden Ale with Starman on the front is, in my opinion, the perfect pairing for this sandwich. You can find it in Canada here and in the USA here. This isn't sponsored by the band or the brewery, this is just my love for the band and good beer shining through.
