Fregula Sarda Salad with Tart Cherries and Smoked Trout

Taylor has decided that dried tart cherries are his new favorite thing this side of Disney World.

“If you didn’t need these for a recipe,” he told me, “I’d have devoured the entire bag by now.”

To which I replied that we can always buy more, and if it makes him happy, by all means, eat away. (It’s the little things, right?)

And in fact, I’m inclined to agree with him.

I’ve never been a fan of raisins (which have absolutely NO place in cookies), and dried cranberries are often too tanic and overpowering (especially when you accidentally buy the orange-flavored ones, they overtake your entire meal). Dried tart cherries, however, are miracles. Little wrinkly miracles; pockets of flavor that compliment and enhance without overpowering. And unlike the chewy/leathery/tough texture of other dried fruit, cherries are tender and supple and won’t break your teeth in the process.

Contrast is king in this colorful salad, which pairs bitter and sweet, salty and smoky, bright and crunchy: multiple dimensions of flavor and texture that make it come alive. It might seem like an odd combination of disparate ingredients, but each one becomes a piece in the greater whole and does so with purpose and intention.

We wanted a salad that would satisfy as an entree, and that meant adding some sort of protein to compliment the fresh and fruity flavors. Not wanting to stick with the same-old-same old (meaning, flaked salmon or canned tuna, mostly like) we stumbled across some smoked trout that looked intriguing. It’s actually very similar in flavor to smoked salmon (not cold smoked/cured salmon like Lox, but rather the stuff that’s actually smoked until opaque and flaky) and in fact you could easily substitute one for the other here if necessary.

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