When the heat of summer is on, this is the perfect dish to get dinner on the table in no time flat.
It requires absolutely no cooking — just some knife work.
It is full of freshness, crunchiness, and vibrant, good-for-you ingredients.
“Smoked Salmon Lettuce Wraps” is all that.
It’s from “The Mediterranean Dish Simply Dinner” (Clarkson Potter, 2024), of which I received a review copy.
It’s by Suzy Karadsheh, the Egyptian-born, New York Times best-selling cookbook author and creator of The Mediterranean Dish cooking and lifestyle site who now makes her home in Atlanta.
The cookbook features 125 recipes that follow her carefree philosophy that dinner needn’t always follow a formal format but can be much more free-form. Why not make an entire dinner out of mezze, such as “Cherry Tomato, Pomegranate, and Mint Salsa with Pine Nuts,” “Fried Goat Cheese Balls with Caramelized Onions, Balsamic, and Fig Spread,” and “Simple Marinated Chickpeas with Halloumi”? Or fire up the grill for “Green Goddess Chicken Kebabs” or “Grilled Shrimp Saganaki.”? Or make a one-pot meal like “Armenian Apricot and Red Lentil Soup” to enjoy with a round of crusty bread?
Her lettuce wraps swap out the usual meatballs or sauteed minced meat mixture for the ease of cold-smoked salmon or lox, though, hot smoked salmon also would work.
Carrots, cucumbers, red bell peppers, and jalapenos get julienned. Chives get minced or sliced. Arrange on a serving platter with the smoked salmon. I also added slices of ripe avocado, since I had some handy. That’s the beauty of this recipe — you can customize it however you like. Slivers of ripe peach or radishes also would make great accompaniments.
Whisk together chopped cilantro, lime juice, minced shallot, red pepper flakes, a pinch of sumac, kosher salt, and olive oil to create a dipping sauce.
Karadsheh assembles each lettuce wrap before serving. I think it’s more fun to just let each person have at it to make their own wrap with all the fixings placed in the center of the table, family-style. Just take a lettuce leaf and add a little of everything before folding up to enjoy after dunking in the tangy and herbaceous sauce.
It’s like a hand-held salad with the opulence of silky, smoky, rich-tasting salmon.
The recipe calls for halving the lettuce leaves and removing the ribs. Be sure to do that or else rolling it up will be near impossible to do so neatly. This method also will mean you will end up with quite small rolls. When I make this recipe again, I would swap out the red lettuce for butter lettuce or even gem lettuce, which may be more tender and lack the same amount of crunch, but are much more pliable.
When you’re craving something light yet fresh and flavorful, this is the dish for you.
Smoked Salmon Lettuce Wraps
(Serves 6 to 12)
For the cilantro-lime sauce:
1 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves (or basil), tough stems removed
Juice of 2 large limes (about 1/4 cup)
1 small shallot, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon sumac
Kosher salt
Extra-virgin olive oil
For the salmon lettuce wraps:
6 large red-leaf lettuce leaves, halved and ribs removed; or butter lettuce or little gem lettuce leaves
8 ounces thinly sliced cold-smoked salmon (or hot-smoked)
2 medium carrots, peeled and cut into thin matchsticks
2 Persian cucumbers, peeled, seeded, and cut into thin matchsticks
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded, and cut into thin matchsticks
2 jalapeno peppers, cores and ribs removed, cut into thin matchsticks
12 fresh chives, halved or minced
1 to 2 avocados, sliced (optional)
Make the sauce: In a small bowl, combine the cilantro, lime juice, shallot, red pepper flakes, sumac, and about 1/4 teaspoon salt. While whisking, drizzle in about 1/4 cup of the olive oil and whisk until combined.
Prepare the lettuce wraps: On a clean cutting board or work surface, spread the lettuce leaves flat, and with the textured side facing up and the bottom of the lettuce closest to you. Start about 1/2 inch from the bottom and place a piece or two of thinly sliced smoked salmon on the lettuce leaf. Drizzle about 1 teaspoon of the cilantro-lime sauce on top. Arrange a few sticks of carrot, cucumber, red bell pepper, jalapeno, and avocado (if using), and add a couple of chives on top.Follow with another small drizzle of sauce, about 1/2 teaspoon.
Roll the lettuce over the salmon and vegetables, away from you. Repeat until all the salmon is used up. Cut the lettuce wraps in half and arrange on a serving platter with the small bowl or remaining cilantro-lime sauce for more drizzling or dipping.
Adapted from “The Mediterranean Dish Simply Dinner” by Suzy Karadsheh
Another Suzy Karadsheh Recipe to Enjoy: Seafood Shakshuka