flounder salad
July 12, 2013 § 35 Comments
I found fresh wild caught flounder at the market the other day. My plan was to go home and make tacos. I knew I wanted something lightly spiced with garlic and herbs. What I didn’t expect was the flavor and texture of this fish to be astoundingly delightful. Once I tried a taste I knew this would be a great fish for salad and I gave up on the taco idea.
I dusted the flounder lightly with flour, added a little salt and pepper and pan cooked it in hot olive oil. Once the flounder was cooked, using the same pan, I added chopped garlic, cilantro, a squeeze of lemon juice and a sprinkling of pimentón de la vera (sweet smoked paprika). Topping the flounder with these crispy spicy bits was simply delectable.
The flounder was served on a bed of mixed wild greens, topped with grated purple cabbage, tzatziki, cilantro sprigs and a few lime slices. I made the tzatziki before starting the fish. I highly recommend using this in place of a salad dressing.
I n g r e d i e n t s
- 1.5 pound fresh wild caught flounder filets
- 4-5 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/4 cup flour
- salt and pepper
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro, coarsely chopped
- juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 teaspoon sweet smoked paprika (or to taste)
- three handfuls of mixed wild greens
- 1/2 cup grated purple cabbage for serving
- a few springs of cilantro for serving
- lime slices for serving
Wash the flounder and pat it dry with paper towels. Set a large skillet over medium high heat and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Dust both sides with flour. Set the fish in the skillet, sprinkle with salt and pepper and cook for 3-5 minutes until golden. Turn the fish and sprinkle the other side with salt and pepper. Continue to cook until golden and crisp around the edges. Remove the fish from the pan to clean paper towels. Turn the heat to low and add cilantro and garlic to the skillet. Mix around and when it has become aromatic add the lemon juice and allow it to bubble a little. Sprinkle the smoked paprika, move around with a spatula until well combined and a bit crispy. Turn off heat.
Plate each serving. First a handful of mixed greens, fish, crispy/spicy bits, a little grated purple cabbage, tzaziki, cilantro sprig and a few lime slices.
Serves 4.
COTTAGE GROVE HOUSE 
Beautiful salad! So fresh and healthful. I had to look up “flounder” in the English-French dictionary and am not sure the specific variety you used can be found in France, but we have a variety of “flat” fish which I am sure would work perfectly here! Great post
Yes! A flat fish. Aren’t they a bit peculiar looking? The first and only time my son went fishing he dropped the line into the sound and immediately pulled up a flounder! It was a funny site to see because we were all looking at this fish saying…”what is it?”
Lovely looking fish salad that must have been delicious. Nice picture.
Thank you so much. :)
This is a great, fresh new idea. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you Jovina!
I’ve never thought of a fish salad before – chicken & beef yes, but fish is so novel! thanks for the idea Seana! How’s Jerusalem coming along?
Hi there! Well, I have yet to get over to the bookstore. The errand has made it to the top of my never ending list but, everyday it seems like it gets bumped down a few notches. :) Have a good weekend Felicia!
Flounder is my favorite fish. What a lovely salad.
Oh good! Maybe try this salad? :)
Flounder is my favorite fish, I love it and love your salad. The spicy crispy bits sound wonderful and the tzatziki is perfect. I have been meaning to get some flounder and will be making this. Will report back.
Great! This was the first time I made flounder. I usually stick to the thicker white fish, especially for tacos, so I was really glad I bought it because now I love it too. Hope you do make it. It’s so good. Also, I didn’t buy enough! I only bought 1.5 pound (for 3 of us) and we still wanted more at the end.
Besides the fish (that I wouldn’t be able to find here) I love that you grate the purple cabbage. Hadn’t even thought of that. It adds such a nice colour to your salad. I usually just slice it but my knife skills as they are…
Thank you Johnny. Same here regarding the knife skills. :)
Such a lovely salad! And the picture really speaks to me. :-)
Thank you so much Francesca. :)
looks delightful, and perfect from summer
sweet smoked paprika makes most everything taste amazing. I bet this is delicious :)
I really love sweet smoked paprika too. I agree, I have yet to dislike anything I have used it on.
Never would have thought to use flounder in a salad. I bet it’s wonderful. I’ve a recipe coming up using baccalà (salted cod) and though it’s often served Christmas Eve, I like to serve it for lunch/dinner on hot Summer days. I bet your dish would be every bit as good, if not better, on those days when the less time spent in the kitchen, the better.
Sound really good. I’ll keep my eye out for your post! This was the first time I had fish in a salad and yes indeed it was very good.
You are so clever to use flounder for salad and i love the presentation. With fresh ingredients, simple cooking is good enough to make it perfect. Just like this recipe :)
I really agree with you about simple cooking. Thank you so much for your kind compliments.
It just looks delicious!
Looks delish – I love fresh fish :)
Thank you. And thank you for visiting. :)
What a beautiful salad. Flounder is one of my favorite fish and your recipe sounds wonderful.
Thank you Karen. This was the first time I cooked flounder and was very pleased with it. Sure is an interesting looking fish! :)
Looks pretty tasty. Do you use a lens baby?
I don’t. Its a matter of fact I have a pretty sorry point and click! Just put a little effect on the photographs with my software. :)
;) Looks good.
That looks too beautiful to eat! I’m sure it was just perfectly delicious!!
Salads really are the perfect meal in this heat! You’ve inspired me to cook up some flounder for a salad this week!
First time I ever had flounder and I really like how it cooked so quickly. Very nice in a salad indeed.
Lovely recipe. I’m always looking for good fish salad ideas and the flounder with tzaziki sounds like a perfect combination.