Simple Guide to Salmon Plus Bonus Recipe

Here is a favorite recipe in our house. It actually takes about 30 total minutes, but it’s only 10 minutes of prep, 20 minutes of cook time.

Still quicker than ordering pizza for delivery!

I buy a big ol’ bag of frozen salmon from Costco (or if I’m lucky enough I catch my own from Lake Michigan — here's me and my dad with a great catch!).

Salmon is one of those fish with all kinds of labels making it confusing about what to pick, so I’ll break it down in order of importance.

Go wild.

• Actually some farmed salmon are ok. You can check which ones to avoid here. But when in doubt, just pick a salmon that was wild-caught.

• Nutritionally, wild salmon have more omega-3 (healthy) fats and the carotenoids that give them their color (which may decrease risk of certain diseases).

Avoid added ingredients like dyes.

• They’re just not necessary and do not add to your health.

Frozen or fresh?

• If fresh isn’t available or it’s not smelling so fresh anymore, frozen is a perfectly good alternative.

Cajun Salmon and Fruit Salsa

This is a recipe from Precision Nutrition (who I am a certified nutrition coach through). I use it often:

Ingredients

2 fillets Salmon with skin

½ mango diced, skin removed

2 roma tomatoes, seeds removed, diced

3 tbsp red onion, diced

½ cup cilantro, stems removed, diced

1 lime, juiced

¾ tsp paprika

½ tsp garlic powder

¼ tsp onion powder

¼ tsp thyme

¼ tsp oregano

⅛ tsp pepper

⅛ tsp sea salt

Pinch of cayenne pepper

2 tsp Olive oil

Directions

Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes Yield: 2 servings

Begin by dicing up ingredients for the fruit salsa – mango, tomatoes, red onion, and cilantro. Put diced ingredients into a bowl and add the lime juice and a small pinch of salt. Let sit.

Next, mix together all of the spices and coat each salmon on the flesh side. On a BBQ or stove-top grill (if stove top add 1 tbsp olive oil to the pan) – grill skin down for 15 minutes on low-medium heat, flip over and cook another 5 minutes. If the fish needs longer to cook – flip back to the skin side and continue cooking – it should no longer be pink inside.

Top fish with salsa and additional cilantro if desired.