Grilled salmon over basil mashed potatoes

with olives, capers, tomatoes and green beans

Basil Mashed Potatoes

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil 

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt 

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 

2 cups basil leaves, washed and dried (2 ounces) - or blanched and dried

4 cups Mashed Potatoes

In a blender, combine the extra-virgin olive oil, salt, and pepper; purée. With the motor running, add the basil leaves and continue to purée until smooth. Add the basil purée to the warm mashed potatoes and, over low heat, stir with a wooden spoon until the purée is completely incorporated and the mixture is hot.

Grilling Salmon 

There are various ways of Grilling Salmon - on the Barbecue, Under a Grill, on top of the cooker in a Grill Pan or on a Chargrill. In all these cooking methods follow these simple guidelines and you won’t go wrong:

- Thick salmon fillets or a whole salmon is ideal.

- If you’re using a whole salmon, make 2 or 3 slashes in each side of the fish to speed up the cooking process and place the fish further away from the source of heat to prevent it buring too much before it’s properly cooked.

- Never salt the salmon before you cook it, all this does is draw out the very juices that you want to keep in but by all means use pepper, herbs, rubs and marinades to vary the flavour.

- Take your fish out of the fridge beforehand so that it has a chance to reach room temperature.

- Turn your grill on at least 5 - 10 minutes before you intend to cook the salmon, if you’ve decided to have a barbecue it will need to be lit at least ½ hour before you intend to cook to allow the flames to die down and the charcoal to become grey.

- Oil your fish - not the grill! - This is extremely important, if you oil the grill your fish will stick.

- Try not to move the salmon around too much once it’s been put on the grill or Barbecue, leave it until there are bar marks on it and then give it a quarter turn, that way you’ll end up with a professional looking lattice mark. Once one side is done, flip it over and repeat on the other side.

Tomato, Olive, and Caper Relish

2 tablespoons olive oil 

2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 

8 large pitted kalamata olives coarsely chopped 

2 medium plum tomatoes chopped 

2 tablespoons fresh parsley chopped 

1 Tbsp. drained capers 

Salt and freshly ground pepper

In a medium bowl, combine the olive oil with the vinegar. Add the olives, tomatoes, parsley and capers and stir together. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside at room temperature.

Steamed green beans

I briefly steam them, then drop them in an ice-bath to stop cooking and keep them fresh, then season with olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, salt and pepper.