Sweet Chipotle Grilled Salmon
So here it is, almost April, and last night I couldn’t take it any more. I had to have something cooked on the grill instead of in the oven, so I begged my husband to shovel out the grill. Most of our snow is melted, but our backyard faces north, and the part right up against the house is cold and shady and usually doesn’t thaw out until late in March. Except this year it will probably be Memorial Day.
You know that point in the winter into spring season when you just can’t stand to have another soup, stew, squash…. Yeah. I’m so there. I just want to turn my oven to the “clean” setting and turn it off until next fall. I have a pretty good feeling I’m not quite done with soups and stews just yet, but today, we’re grilling.
When I was buying fish at Whole Foods today, I noticed that they have Wild Salmon listed on the board for early May. Hooray! I love the deep, gamey flavor of wild salmon, and we eat lots of it when it’s in season. For the rest of the year it’s farmed salmon, because I don’t care for frozen wild fish, and farmed is much more in my budget. If you’re buying your fish from a store that’s committed to environmentally responsible aquaculture, I think farmed fish perfectly fine. It’s generally just as nutritious as wild fish, and in the case of salmon, it’s a good source of omega-3 fats.
I love serving salmon on a bed of greens, so that's what I did here. The orange segments add some lovely color and their sweetness balanced out the the spicy maple chipotle dressing I made. Sweet potato straws were from Edible Perspective and my oh my, were they good! Definitely worth turning the oven on for.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds salmon filet
- 1 teaspoon chipotle chili powder or less if you prefer less spicy
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground coriander
- ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar packed
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground pepper
Instructions
- Mix spices, sugar, salt and pepper together in a bowl until well combined. Rub over salmon and let sit at room temperature for about 15 minutes.
- Grill salmon to desired temperature.
Have you started grilling yet? Those of you in CA, NV, and AZ don't count 🙂
Eat well!
Boy does that look good! Living in the Salmon capital of the universe we indulge often! I've never used Chipotle chili powder - wonder if it's hard to find? I usually take a jar of Chipotle with Adobo, pulse it in my food processor and freeze in cubes. Probably be difficult to sub in this recipe?
Lovely pics!
Kathi
I envy you salmon capital dwellers! Chipotle chili powder is available in the spice section at the grocery store - probably right next to regular chili powder. Love the tip about freezing the chipotle with adobo! A little of that stuff goes a long way and I never know what to do with the extra. I'll try that!