Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Summer Stone Fruit Salsa is one of your two new favorite summer salmon recipes. Copper River Salmon sent me two gorgeous Prince William Sound Sockeye Salmon fillets to make recipes with for a fun little salmon vs salmon recipe contest.
Gorgeous gorgeous fish. I was on Twitter a few weeks ago and I happened to see Copper River Salmon tweet about a salmon recipe contest between Chrissy Tieigen and LaBron James. They asked if anyone wanted to do a recipe contest with some of their salmon. I replied "sure!". A few weeks later I was sent some gorgeous salmon and I came up with two recipes I think everyone will love. First up is this Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Summer Stone Fruit Salsa.
We are huge fans of salmon in my house. Especially my 9, almost 10, year old daughter. Salmon is her absolute favorite food. She always asks for salmon for dinner. Salmon is SO good for you! Especially wild salmon. Sockeye Salmon is one of our favorite kinds of salmon for many reasons. One is flavor, one is versatility in cooking and another is because it is so healthy. Here are a few details about this Prince William Sounds Sockeye Salmon :
- Caught wild in Prince William Sound by the same fleet that harvests Copper River salmon.
- Certified sustainable by both Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch and the Marine Sustainability Council
- Sockeye gets its red color from its natural diet of crustaceans
- Super lean protein that contains more than just the Omega-3s everyone talks about. Also has vitamin D and E and niacin which help regulate hormones, nourish skin and hair and promote healthy brain function.
- 220 calories in a 3.5oz serving
I had a few recipes in mind for these gorgeous filets. I wanted to keep them both easy, summery and light. I love grilled sockeye salmon and I also love salmon on salads. It has been plenty hot out this month, but not too hot to grill. I love that salmon grills up quickly so I am not spending hours over the grill when its over 100 degrees out. The salad I pan roasted and I will tell you all about that in a couple days. This post is all about this gorgeous grilled Sockeye salmon.
We decided to go with a light seasoning on the fish with just a bit of heat. Sockeye is such mild tasting salmon that I didn't want to over power it with seasoning but I didn't want to under season either. A lot of people who don't like fish because of the strong fish flavor, tend to like salmon since it is so mild.
I love the look of salmon from grilling with the lightly charred grill marks. For this recipe you start grilling skin side up, then flip and grill until done. Salmon is a delicate fish, especially Sockeye, so you don't want to be flipping it often. Just once is enough.
Before we lived in Las Vegas we lived in the pacific northwest, just west of Portland, Oregon to be exact. There was so much fresh, wild, salmon available all the time. We ate a ton of it. Maybe that is why my girls love it as much as they do. Salmon was one of their first "grown up" foods when they were toddlers.
Grocery shopping was done more at fish markets and farmers markets than chain grocery stores. The fresh caught fish sitting on ice at the farmers markets always caught our eye, as well as the wide variety of fruits and veggies available year round.
Summertime in the Pacific Northwest is so short ( we left because of the weather) and we tried to make the most of it. I loved when it was stone fruit season, so many peaches, plums, cherries, nectarines etc. There was a farmers market stand on the way home from work that I would stop by often. Rainier cherries had no chance of making it home. I always ate them on the way. Same with super sweet white nectarines.
Because of my fond memories of the fresh salmon and farmers markets in Portland I had to make a fruit salsa with my favorite summer stone fruits, especially rainier cherries and white nectarines. I also added in strawberries, some bing cherries, jalapeños, red onion and fresh basil from my own garden. I let this marinate in some salt, pepper and lime juice while the salmon was grilling. I love using fruit with salmon, they pair really well together. Its one of the few fish that I love with fruit. Ono, Mahi Mahi and Halibut are a few others that work well. Especially for fish tacos.
When Copper River told me that this fish was caught the day before it was sent to me I was floored. Doesn't get much fresher than that.
I have a good friend that lives in Portland that grew up in Petersberg, Alaska. Her dad is a salmon fisherman. He will send her fish that he catches a few times a year. Once he sent her some amazing white King Salmon that he had caught. She invited us over for dinner and it was the most amazing King Salmon I had ever had. I had never even seen white salmon before. It was like butter. Melt in your mouth amazing. I told her one of these days I want to meet up with her, her husband, and boys in Alaska at her parents place and we all go Salmon fishing together. She went all the time growing up and loved it. I am a warm weather girl but I would so be willing to buy extra clothes and brave the cold just to go catch my own salmon.
When we lived in Colorado we went trout fishing all the time. In rivers and lakes. Once I was out fishing with a co-worker while my husband was at work. I caught a gorgeous rainbow trout that I brought home for him to cook! It was awesome. My daughters beg me to go fishing all the time. If my husband ever gets a day off from school and work one of these days we will take them fishing.
The recipe for this grilled sockeye salmon and summer stone fruit salsa is pretty straight forward. I made white jasmine rice to go along with it to make a complete meal. You can make anything you would like as a side. Brown rice, wild rice, couscous. Anything would work. We just happen to love jasmine rice.
Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Summer Stone Fruit Salsa Grilled Sockeye Salmon with Summer Stone Fruit Salsa www.pineappleandcoconut.com Makes 4-5 Servings
Ingredients
For the Salsa
- 1 C Rainier cherries, pitted and chopped
- 2 White nectarines, pitted and chopped into 1cm pieces
- 1 C strawberries, stems cut off and hulled, chopped into 1 cm pieces
- 1 large Jalapeno, stem, seeds and ribs removed, diced into small pieces
- ¼ C red onion, diced
- 2-3 teaspoon lime juice
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ C Basil, sliced chiffonade style
For the Salmon
- 1 Prince William Sound Sockeye Salmon fillet cut into four to five smaller fillets. About 5 ounces each, 4-5” long 2 ½ inches wide.
- 1 tablespoon oil for salmon filets plus extra for grill
- Mix the seasoning into a bowl.
- Preheat grill to high. Brush grill with oil, let fire burn out if there is one. Lightly oil salmon top and sprinkle filets evenly with seasoning.
- Put salmon skin side up on the grill, turn heat down to medium low. Close lid and grill for 3- 4 minutes. Gently flip the fish to skin side down and grill another 4-5 min. Remove from the grill
- Place rice on plate ( or whatever grain/starch you use) and top with a salmon filet. Stir the basil into the salsa and spoon on top of the salmon. Serve.
Salmon Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ teaspoon Pepper
- ½ teaspoon Chili Powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- Serve with: white rice ( I like jasmine), brown rice, or couscous.
Instructions
- Prepare the salsa: Chop and dice all ingredients as stated in ingredient list except for basil. Combine in a large bowl and mix well. Taste and add more seasoning if desired. Chill until ready to use.
Nutrition Information:
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 0Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 0mgFiber: 0gSugar: 0gProtein: 0g
Thank you so much Copper River Salmon for these gorgeous sockeye fillets. And stay tuned everyone for the next recipe to see which you might like best! (Ps I couldn't decide, they are equally amazing to me!)
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