Maple-glazed Wild Sockeye Salmon with Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Scapes

With so many grocery stores offering sustainable seafood and local farmers markets now in season, it’s easy to select eco-friendly ingredients for dinner tonight

I had never cooked with, or even heard of, garlic scapes before I went on the Langley Circle Farm Tour a couple of weeks ago with Tourism Langley. Langley is less than a 60-minute drive away, yet I’d never spent any time there, and I am so glad I finally did – the tour was so much fun, with the highlight tied between milking Rita the Jersey cow at Aldor Acres Dairy Centre and visiting the adorable goats at Milner Valley Cheese!

For lunch we stopped at Vista D’Oro Farms & Winery, where we were treated to an incredible spread: wines from Vista D’Oro and neighbouring winery Domaine de Chaberton, sausages from JD Farms Specialty Turkey, an assortment of local cheese with some of Vista D’Oro’s artisnal preserves (the green tomato with garam masala and the Turkish fig with walnut wine are to die for), mini quiches, and a gorgeous salad topped with edible flowers from Glorious Organics Co-op. 

Glorious Organics had a raffle for a gift basket (pictured above) after lunch and I won! I was familiar with and excited about everything in the basket except for the green stalks, which turned out to be garlic scapes – the top of a garlic bulb. 

I felt a pang of sadness that I’m so disconnected from the original source of my food that I’d never seen the top of a garlic bulb after more than three decades of eating garlic! But what can you do, at least I know now. And I am a fan – garlic scapes are delicious!

I chopped them up along with some green onions and stirred them into creamy garlic mashed potatoes.

Also in my basket was a bag of Farmers’ Blend mixed greens with various kales, chard, mizuna, flowering bassica tips and other assorted fresh leaves. It was a hearty salad and I served it with one of my favourite dressings, which I will share with you below.

I still struggle with cooking fish to perfection but I learned some helpful tips from this video with YEW Restaurant + Bar executive chef Ned Bell:

1. Let the pan do the work – use a good pan (I swear by my cast iron one and that’s what Bell recommends too) and let it heat up enough.
2. Leave the fish alone – flipping too much interrupts the searing.

Farmers’ Blend Salad

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 4 handfuls Famers’ Blend salad or similar mix
• Dressing
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1 tbsp maple syrup
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • chili flakes, to taste

Instructions

1. Combine dressing ingredients in container with lid and shake vigorously until well combined.
2. Divide greens into 4 bowls and drizzle dressing over top.

Maple-glazed Salmon

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 4 large skinless salmon fillets (I got my Sea Choice wild sockeye salmon from Urban Fare)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• sea salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Heat cast iron pan over medium heat.
2. Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper.
3. Add oil to pan, swirling to coat bottom, and then add fish.
4. Cook about 80 percent through on one side, so you get a nice crust.
5. Flip over fish, drizzle with maple syrup, and add butter to pan, cooking for another minute or two.
6. Serve immediately.

Mashed Potatoes with Garlic Scapes

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 cups nugget potatoes, quartered
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp cream
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 garlic scapes, chopped
• 2 green onions, chopped

Instructions

1. Place potatoes in large saucepan, cover with water and bring to boil.
2. Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 15 minutes or until potatoes are soft.
3. Add butter, cream and garlic, and mash until smooth
4. Stir in garlic scapes and green onions and serve.