When I find myself on my own for dinner, I oscillate between an enthusiasm for cooking something light and healthy, and a desire to give in and just order a trashy takeaway and put my feet up. Either way, the common attributes of my solo dinners are they’re quick to produce and require as little washing up as possible. This dinner fits the bill.
The whole meal is cooked on the barbeque meaning the clear-up is practically non-existent, and it’s incredibly quick to cook. I wouldn’t always fire up the ‘que for one person, but as it’s required for three separate elements of the dinner I’d say it’s worthwhile.
If you want to speed things up even further you can buy a good quality tzatziki ready-made, but you will be thoroughly rewarded if you make your own. My recipe for tzatziki is here; make the whole batch and eat the rest with pitta bread the next day.
Feeds one, very happily
Ingredients
1 tortilla
1 x 130g fillet of salmon, skin-on
1/2 tsp sumac
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
1 medium courgette / zucchini
1/2 clove of garlic
1/2 lemon
Pinch of chilli flakes
Tzatziki – make it fresh using this recipe
Handful of baby spinach
Method:
Make the tzatziki and pop in the fridge for later.
Light the barbeque and keep the lid down while it’s getting hot. Once hot, turn down to a medium heat.
Tip: A griddle pan will work if you haven’t got a BBQ. You’ll need to do the courgette in batches, but everything will still be cooked by the time the salmon is done.
Make the dressing for the courgettes as follows: in a jar or small bowl use a garlic press to crush the half garlic clove, squeeze in most of the juice from the half lemon, add about a tablespoon of olive oil, a pinch of chilli flakes and some salt and pepper. Mix up and taste. It should be lemony and moderately hot. Set aside.
Sprinkle the fillet of salmon with the sumac for a citrusy-hit and add a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Drizzle on a little olive oil. Give the fillet a little rub to distribute the spices all over the fish, including the skin. Set aside until it’s time to BBQ.
Use a vegetable peeler to peel down the length of the courgette into super-thin slices. Keep going until you get to the fluffy inside, then repeat on the other side.
Now it’s time to get grilling. Place the seasoned salmon fillet skin-side down on the BBQ. Leave it there for about 80% of its cooking – five minutes or so – then flip it over and cook for a further minute on the other side.
While the salmon is sizzling away, cook the courgette by placing the slices individually across the bars (just dry, no oil) and cook for between 10 – 30 seconds a side, depending on how hot your barbeque is. Once charred, flip and cook on the other side. Remove to a large plate. The courgette will still have a bit of bite, almost raw, but it will be sweet and tender. Toss the charred courgette in some of the spicy, lemony dressing, using your hands to combine. Transfer the tangle of courgette ribbons to a small plate for serving.
When the salmon is almost finished, slap the tortilla on the BBQ and cook for about 10 – 20 seconds a side.
Smear the tortilla generously with tzatziki, pile on a handful of spinach and place the salmon fillet on top. Tear over bits of the crisped salmon skin for texture. Wrap up and dive in, with the courgette salad on the side.
Caroline Feeds 