Citrus-Roasted Salmon

This week I was offered the best deal ever. A coworker of mine has a son who loves to fish. He loves to fish, but hates salmon. Yes, he hates salmon. So, to relieve him of the burden of all that salmon I paid him $10 for a 1 pound filet of King salmon, and a whole 4 pound Silver. My dilemma with the last recipe was that salmon was too expensive...well the seafood gods decided to give me a break. 

The silver salmon still has bones so I put it in my freezer and will get a lesson in a few days on how to debone. The king salmon was deboned and precut so I went ahead with that cut for this recipe. Here is something I didn't know: skinning a salmon is tough. I even went online and watched a few videos on how to remove the skin, and I thought, "Wow, that looks really easy." I was very wrong. It took me forever, but I finally got the skin off. I'm sure it would have been okay if I left the skin on during cooking, but I wanted to follow the recipe as close as possible since it was my first time with salmon. In the end it all worked out. The salmon flaked beautifully, and was sweet yet tangy. There are definitely things I want to perfect for the next time I cook with salmon, but for my first dish I am very pleased! :)

The crushed red pepper should actually be ground red pepper. You will see why at the end. 

Another of my favorite cookbooks.

I paired this dish with grilled asparagus sprinkled with garlic and red pepper. Worked together perfectly!

Citrus-Roasted Salmon (printer friendly version)

Cooking Light Complete Cookbook

Ingredients:

1 teaspoon grated lemon peel

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 tablespoons honey

4 teaspoons chili powder

1teaspoon cumin

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seeds

1/4 ground red pepper

1 (6 oz) can thawed orange juice concentrate

4 (6 oz) salmon fillets, skinned (1 inch thick)

Cooking spray

Orange wedges (optional)

Parsley sprigs (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400'.
2. Combine the first 9 ingredients in a bowl, brush both sides of fish with orange mixture. Reserve remaining orange mixture. Place fish on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400' for 15 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. 
3. Place remaining orange mixture in a small saucepan; bring to a boil, and cook until reduced to 1/2 cup (about 2 minutes). Serve with fish, and garnish with orange wedges and parsley, if desired. 

Makes 4 servings (serving size: 1 fillet and 2 tablespoons orange sauce)

Nutrition: Calories 366; Fat 13.5g; Protein 33.5g; Carb 27g; Sodium 399mg

*As I was copying down the recipe I realized that I read an ingredient wrong. I apparently read "crushed red pepper" and not "ground red pepper" (which is normally cayenne). Well, as least I know that it will taste good, just a bit different, the next time I make this. :)