was walking around the grocery store the other day and had picked up some peaches because I was going to try grilling them, but then I walked by the fish section and I decided that salmon with peach salsa was a better idea (and probably more filling as a meal). It's been a while since I sat down and actually made a meal, life has been shifting a bit these days and Dan and I are still finding our groove with our new schedules, so food has been a smash-and-grab free for all most of the time.
Salmon is one of the few things I feel really natural cooking. You know, like the thing you feel comfortable just whipping up without a recipe, on the fly. Sort of Emeril-"BAM!" style. I've cooked it enough that it's one of my solid, go-to meals. This past Christmas we had Dan's parents over for Christmas dinner and I made salmon instead of a roast or turkey, simply because I knew it would be great, whereas I'm definitely not as practiced at those more traditional holiday meals. In my family, though, salmon was a more traditional holiday meal. Sure, we had the thanksgiving turkey and sometimes a Christmas ham, but at least one of our holiday meals was either king crab or sockeye salmon. When you're an Alaskan, celebrating with the bounty of the earth means lots of seafood.
Ingredients for Peach Salsa
1 med tomato, diced
1 jalapenos, seeded and finely diced
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
1 1/2 lbs peaches, diced
1/4 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 Tbsp lime juice
1 tsp salt, or to taste
freshly ground black pepper or to taste
Ingredients for Salmon
1-2 tbsp butter, in thin slices
1-2 tbsp brown sugar
1 large or 2 small salmon fillet(s)
1 tbsp lime juice
a few slice red onion rings
Preheat the oven to 325ºF for a small fillet or up to 375º for a larger fillet.
Combine the peach salsa ingredients and set aside in the fridge.
Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Set the salmon fillet on the foil and put the thin slices of butter on the filet. Sprinkle the brown sugar and squeeze the lime juice on the fillet. Place onion slices on the fillet and pop it in the oven. For a smaller fillet 20-30 minutes will do, but for a larger filet do 40+ minutes. If you aren't sure if it's done, use a fork to flake apart the fillet at the thickest part to see if it's cooked through.
Once your salmon is done, plate it and pour on some salsa! Dan loved the salsa so much I think his plate was 50% salmon, 50% salsa. We didn't have chips on hand to eat with the leftover salsa, but I'm going to the store to get some because it's too delicious to go to waste!
