Only in the last year or so was I introduced to samphire whilst dining out one night, as you do, and absolutely loved it. Samphire is a type of plant which grows in coastal regions, which I think is what gives it its slightly salty taste. The name samphire derives from the French for the patron saint of fishermen (Saint Peter) though it is known by other names in certain parts of the UK.  It is now available in most supermarkets and was very delighted to find it in mine as I have been craving it recently.

Due to its slightly salty taste it is generally served with fish or seafood, in this case I had some left over salmon. The dish described here is very versatile, you could use it with other fish, personally I’d recommend plaice as an alternative, and you can of course use more vegetables or replace it with a green leafy salad, as you wish.

A word of caution, when you eat samphire you often get some hard bits in the middle of them, almost like a stem, be very careful when eating a fish that may have not been deboned as they have a similar texture when chewing.

Salmon with Samphire & Broccoli

Preparation to Plate: 15 minutes

Serves 1

Serve Hot

Consume within 1 day

Ingredients:

1 Salmon Fillet, or which ever fish you’d like to use

1 Packet of Samphire, approximately 90-100g

200g Broccoli, roughly one large bunch/tree

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Nob of Grass Fed Butter

1 Clove of Garlic, grated

White Pepper

Recipe:

Preheat the oven to 200ºC. Whilst the oven is preheating, wash and prepare the broccoli and boil the kettle to steam them. Lightly steam the broccoli for around 5-6 minutes, until al dente. Drizzle the salmon with some olive oil and cook for 10 minutes.

Once the broccoli is nearly al dente heat a nob of butter in a pan, once melted add the samphire. Let the samphire fry in the butter for a minute or two before adding the steamed broccoli to the pan. Grate in (or crush if you’d prefer) the glove of garlic and stir.

The samphire and broccoli should be cooked nicely by the time the salmon finishes cooking in the oven. Plate and serve.