Go meatless Fridays during Lent with this healthy and tasty recipe for a chopped salmon salad with fresh vegetables.

While it seems like warm weather should be just around the corner, we've still got our share of chilly days ahead.

And as we await the change of seasons, another group of people are eagerly awaiting Easter Sunday. Christians worldwide celebrated the beginning of the Lenten season on Ash Wednesday. During Lent, Christians prepare themselves to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday. (The word lent comes from a French word meaning "springtime," a time of renewal.)

Lent lasts for a period of forty days, a number that has significance in the Christian tradition. The forty days before Easter recalls the forty days Jesus spent in the wilderness before beginning his public ministry.

During Lent, Christians observe such rituals as praying, fasting, and abstaining from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday, and all Fridays during Lent. Many church congregations hold fish dinners or spaghetti suppers on Fridays during Lent.

Salmon has traditionally been associated with Lenten dinners. With this in mind, we created a simple salmon salad that can easily become a side dish for a Friday night Lenten dinner. This recipe calls for poaching salmon fillets. While there are different methods for poaching salmon, the technique used in the recipe below is simple and doesn't require a fish poacher. If you prefer, you can poach the salmon the day before you plan to serve the salad, and refrigerate the poached fish overnight.

Tarragon Salmon Salad Recipe

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Flaked poached salmon is flavored with chopped fresh tarragon. Pecans, grapes, or chopped apples can be added to the salad for variety.

FOR THE POACHED SALMON:

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dry white wine
• 1 cup water
• 2 lemon slices
• 1/2 onion, peeled and cut in half
• 4 sprigs fresh dill
• 4 sprigs fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 pound fresh salmon fillets, skinned and boned

FOR THE SALAD:

Ingredients:

• Nonstick cooking spray
• 1 pound poached salmon fillets
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped yellow sweet pepper
• 1 1/3 cups chopped, seeded tomatoes
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 medium cucumber, coarsely chopped (about 2 cups)
• 2 teaspoons small capers, drained
• 1 cup chopped pecans (optional)
• 1 recipe Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

TO PREPARE THE SALMON:

1. Combine the wine, water, lemon slices, onion, dill, parsley, bay leaves, and salt in a medium nonreactive skillet or saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, add the salmon, and cover. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes or just until done.
2. Carefully remove the salmon to a plate and let cool slightly. Break into medium-size pieces.

TO PREPARE THE SALAD:

1. Spray four 6-ounce small tumbler glasses or ramekins with nonstick cooking spray. Equally divide and layer the ingredients in each of the glasses or ramekins in the following order: salmon, tarragon, yellow pepper, tomatoes, onion and cucumber. Cover the top layer with plastic wrap and firmly press the mixture into the glasses or ramekins with a soup can or a similar object slightly smaller than the diameter of the glass or ramekin.
2. Invert the salads onto individual salad plates; carefully lift off the glasses or ramekins. Sprinkle each serving with capers and pecans (optional); drizzle with Lemon Vinaigrette (recipe below).

Lemon Vinaigrette RecipeMakes 1/2 Cup

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons finely grated lemon zest
• 4 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1. In a screw-top jar, combine the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, sugar, and salt and pepper. Shake well to mix the ingredients.
2. Refrigerate before using. Shake well before drizzling over the salad (see recipe above).