This is the ideal mandarin orange salad with salmon and a rather untraditional salad base: Broccoli slaw!
We love a good slaw, as it’s a crunchy alternative to a non-lettuce salad. Broccoli slaw is totally underrated as a salad ingredient. It’s easy to find; it comes pre-chopped in the produce section. Equal parts bitter and sweet, broccoli slaw usually is comprised of some combination of broccoli, carrots, and cabbage.
Any kind of prepped slaw is basically a multitasker. You’re not going to dress it like you would cole slaw per se. It’s going to be different. You can treat it like a bed of veggies upon which you can rest the salmon, or you can think of it like a “salad” in the loosest, most open-to-interpretation way possible.
Get ready to use up most of a big bag of mandarins for this recipe, which uses seven of them! Then you can just snack on the leftovers. If you don’t have access to mandarins, canned ones work, or you can find tangerines as they are reliably sweet and smaller than oranges. Want to turn this salad into a stir fry? Just add rice or noodles!
This recipe is also featured in my cookbook, The Workweek Lunch Cookbook: Easy, Delicious Meals to Meal Prep, Pack, and Take On The Go out on March 29, 2022! It includes 60 approachable recipes designed to be meal-prepped and stored.
How to adapt this salmon with mandarin orange salad
I opted to bake my salmon to make this recipe more hands-off and convenient. But you don’t have to cook it in the oven. You can cook it right in a skillet over medium heat (7-9 minutes) if you prefer it that way. You could even air fry it!
Don’t like salmon or don’t have it on hand? Here are some other protein possibilities
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts or thighs: Brown them first in a hot skillet if you like and transfer to the oven, or cook right on the stovetop until no longer pink.
- Shrimp: Try a super quick saute and top the slaw before serving
- Pork tenderloin: Cook this for 25-30 minutes or so, browning it on a hot pan first if you like.
- Tofu/tempeh: This works great in the broiler if you want to get it crispy or just as easily in a hot saute pan with a little bit of oil
- Chickpeas: Roast them for about 10-15 minutes to get them crispy
- Your favorite veggie/meat patties
- For even more ideas, check out our master list of vegan protein options!
You could also make any of the above options on the stove instead!
Related: Cold Lunch Ideas: Meal Prep Recipes When You Don’t Have A Microwave
How to adapt the broccoli slaw salad
While I do recommend you use broccoli slaw because of its heartiness and crunch factor, you can certainly use traditional slaw if you prefer. Other ways you can customize this salad:
- Add your favorite herbs! We’re already using cilantro, but basil would go great with this dish, especially if you have access to Thai basil.
- Add some greens! Spinach and or lacinato kale would be my go-to, but feel free to add some crunchy romaine or iceberg lettuce.
- Add some chopped red onion for extra zing.
- Add other veggies you love such as sliced red bell peppers, more carrots, shredded cabbage, shaved Brussels sprouts, and green onions.
Related: 20 Meal Prep Salads That You’ll Actually Enjoy Eating
Change the sesame dressing
We’re making an orange sesame dressing for this recipe, but you can always do something else! If you want to keep the sesame mandarin dressing but don’t feel like making your own, this sesame ginger dressing looks great.
How to store and serve this salad
This meal lasts for 3 to 4 days in the fridge, as long as it’s in an airtight container. As you might imagine, it’s not freezer friendly. Enjoy this meal cold or at room temperature.
You can reheat the salmon in the microwave, on the stove or in the oven if you’d like, however. The salmon should flake apart easily when you’re ready to eat. Drizzle the dressing on top and toss gently.
And don’t forget to try out our other delicious recipes!
Here are a few you may be interested in:
Salmon with Mandarin Orange Salad and Sesame Dressing
Instructions
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Preheat your oven to 400°F (200°C).
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To a measuring glass, add the honey, garlic, ginger, rice vinegar, sriracha, sesame oil and soy sauce. Squeeze juice from the 2 mandarin halves over the glass and mix well. Prepare a baking sheet or dish with cooking spray. Place the salmon on the dish and pour the glaze on top. Use a spoon to scoop up sauce from the bottom of the dish and drizzle it on the salmon, ensuring the tops and sides of the filets are completely covered in the sauce. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the salmon is firm to the touch or a meat thermometer reads 140°F (60°C). If more caramelization is desired, broil the salmon for exactly 1 minute before taking it out of the oven.
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While the salmon bakes, toss the broccoli slaw, mandarin slices, radishes, cooked edamame, cilantro and cashews. Set aside.
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To make the dressing, add the sesame oil, soy sauce, honey, rice vinegar and sesame seeds to the same measuring glass you used before. Add the juice of two mandarins and mix. Transfer the dressing to small containers to keep on the side until you eat the salad.
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Divide the broccoli slaw mixture between three meal prep containers. Place the cooked salmon on top.
