Heart Healthy Nutrition: Salad Nicoise Sinatra Style

If you’ve been with me for a while, you know I’m wild about wild salmon. Wild salmon—which feed on smaller fish—are a great medicinal food packed with omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D, and a powerful carotenoid called astaxanthin, which helps prevent the oxidation of fats in the body.

This is also one of the best times of the year to buy salmon, because in Alaska—which supplies 90 percent of the salmon sold in the United States—they’re fresh-caught from May through August. Alaska has banned salmon farming, so it’s one of the cleanest, purest sources of this heart-healthy fish. At this time of the year, my wife Jan and I enjoy plenty of salmon dishes, including this delicious salad.

Salad Nicoise Sinatra Style

Ingredients:

• ½ cup canned, unsalted or low-sodium white beans, drained and rinsed
• 6-oz. cooked fresh salmon or 1 (6-oz.) can low-sodium salmon (chunked to taste)
• 1 large egg, boiled and sliced
• ½ cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• ½ cup cooked green beans, cut in 2-inch pieces
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tsp. lemon juice
• 4 cups baby spinach or green leaf lettuce

Toss all ingredients except spinach in a medium bowl. Serve on spinach or lettuce. (Makes 2 servings.)