Grilled Salmon with Garlic and Lime
My mom has cooked salmon this way for a long time, and I think she originally got the recipes from Stirring Performances, a cookbook from the Winston-Salem, NC Junior League. It’s just so darn good that I really hardly ever cook salmon any other way. Even better, it’s dead simple — rub with a little garlic and salt, squeeze some lime over, let it sit a bit, and throw it on the grill! Or, if like us, you get ready to fire up the grill and find you’re out of charcoal, and stick it under the broiler instead. (I think this is even easy enough to go in the Just for John category, at least if you can find the salmon on sale!) We find it’s a little easier with salmon steaks (they hold up a bit better on the grill) but fillets work fine, too.
Tonight, we served it over the Sweet Potato Mash with Mint from Simply Recipes — delicious! This was a really unusual combination of flavors — sweet potatoes, mint, cilantro, raw onion, and a touch of vanilla. I know it sounds a bit odd, but I thought the vanilla especially really gave it a nice depth. It was definitely on the sweet side — I added a touch of cayenne to balance it out, and next time, I think I’ll add a little more. But the sharp flavors of the garlic and lime played nicely against the sweetness of the potatoes, and it ended up as a really good combination. Could use another color to balance out the orange though!
Grilled Salmon
4 salmon steaks or fillets
3 cloves of garlic
1 T salt
1-2 limes
Rosemary stems (optional)
Mix the garlic and salt, in about equal parts, into a paste. Rub on both sides of the fish. Squeeze lime juice over. Let sit about 2 hours (if you have time; it’s better if you let it sit, but not essential). Grill or broil, about 4 minutes per side. The originally recipe calls for throwing a few stems of rosemary over the coals when you put the salmon on. We’ve never actually tried it, but I expect it would be delicious.
Serves 4.
