Salmon with Crushed Vegetable Mash

This is a simple but incredibly delicious and satisfying dinner, that's great for family meals mid-week as it doesn't take long to pull together.

The crushed vegetable mash is a sort of hybrid colcannon but I include thinly sliced leeks and curly kale gently sautéed in a tablespoon of butter so it keeps its’ bite and add some herbs from my kitchen windowsill selection - parsley and chives. The potatoes are baked in the skin while you can crack on with everything else; and then just peeled and the soft, fluffy flesh scooped out and combined with the vegetables after a gentle mashing with just a drizzle of olive oil.

I serve with peas and asparagus cooked in boiling water and the salmon is steamed on a plate, covered in tin foil on top of the pan to save on washing up!

For Glen and Bridget I poach an egg each to soft, in the vegetable water while dishing up as an added protein hit and it's a real family winner for our toddler foodie as well as us adults too.

The below serves two adults and one child portion. 

Salmon with Crushed Vegetable Mash

Here's how:

• 2 large fillets of salmon
• 3 large potatoes
• 150g curly kale
• 2 leeks
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
• Handful fresh parsley and chives
• Handful Asparagus spears
• 100g frozen peas
• Pinch salt
• Black pepper
• 3 eggs (optional) 

Firstly place the oven on a high heat around 200-220 degrees to pre-heat and place the potatoes in the microwave for six minutes.

Fill and boil the kettle.

Once the potatoes come out of the microwave, place the end of a metal teaspoon deeply inside of each, and place directly on the shelf of the oven to bake for 25 minutes. The metal teaspoon (a skewer would work as well) will speed up the heat working its way through and so will cook quicker).

Now add the butter to a heavy-bottomed pan and place on a gentle heat with a tiny drizzle of olive oil to prevent it burning or cooking too quickly.

Now slice the leeks and add to the pan. After four minutes on a gentle heat add the kale and stir with a wooden or plastic spoon and cook for a few minutes. Now remove the kale and leeks to a bowl and set aside for the minute.

Place the salmon fillets onto a plate and cover with foil. Now place the peas and asparagus into a different pan and cover with the boiling water, place the plate with the salmon on top and cook for 6-8 minutes.

While that’s cooking remove the potatoes from the oven, de-shell and place all of the soft and fluffy potato into the pan that cooked with leeks and kale. Add a knob of butter and mash with a fork, or a potato masher. Then stir in the buttery kale and leeks with a wooden spoon and place on a very gentle heat to keep warm.

Once the vegetables and salmon are cooked, use a slotted spoon to get the vegetables out of the water and place into a colander, then if you’re having poached egg, pop these into the vegetable water – they only take 3 minutes to poach to soft, so will be ready by the time you’ve dished up the rest of the meal. Enjoy!

TIP: If you prefer your salmon to be cooked through more, then leave to steam over the eggs as they poach.