Roast Salmon with Warm Mushroom Salad

I can't say enough about this salad - it's so delicious and tastes like you ordered it at a fancy restaurant. It's very light and delicate while also satisfying. I love to serve this salad at Thanksgiving or other dinner parties to balance out the richer food. I love using maitake (hen of the woods) mushrooms here, but any kind of fresh mushroom will work.

They key to this dish is the compound butter - it's one of the best things you can have in your fridge or freezer to take your cooking up a notch. It will make more than you need for this dish, so just wrap it in plastic wrap in the shape of a log and freeze it - then whenever you want to up-level a piece of cooked protein, roast or sautéed vegetables, or just spread it over a good piece of bread, cut a piece off the log straight from the freezer and you're in business. I use the compound butter both to serve over the simple roast salmon (or trout) and also when sautéing the mushrooms for the salad.

The vinaigrette for this salad is also another of my favorites. It takes just a few minutes to make it -I use a mason jar and give it all a good shake, otherwise you can make it in a bowl with a fork or whisk. It keeps for over a week in the fridge, just let it come to room temperature for 20 minutes or so before you want to use it and give it a good shake or whisk before using again.

The last key ingredient of the salad is toasted almonds, which add such a nice flavor and crunch. If you can't eat nuts, you could sub pepitas (pumpkin seeds). This dish is gluten free and pescatarian.

Serves 2.