Hot-Smoked Salmon Noodle Salad
Hot-smoked salmon combines the texture of cooked, not cured, fish with deep smoky aromas (look for it in the smoked-fish case). It stars in this riff on a traditional niçoise salad with blanched green beans, peppery radishes, and soft baby lettuces arranged in groups but begging to be tossed all together as soon as you pick up a fork. The zesty vinaigrette packs extra punch thanks to karashi, a nasal-clearing hot Japanese mustard that will perk up anyone after a long day in the sun. You can find prepared karashi in a tube (near wasabi), or as a dried powder version in a small can that you’re meant to reconstitute with water; if you have trouble, English mustard (like Colman’s) or Chinese mustard can sub in a pinch.