Special Sunday: Grilled Salmon

Welcome to my annual recipe crush. Each February I choose a theme, and provide one or two recipes each day for the whole month. This year the theme is Weekly Menu Planning. What are the categories, you ask? We have Sunday Special, Meatless Monday, Taco Tuesday, Worldly Wednesday, Thrifty Thursday, Fishy Friday, and Celebrate Saturday.

Sunday dinner. That was a big deal when I was a child. Only we had it after we got home from church. Pot roast (in the pressure cooker), or fried chicken (in lard, of course), meatloaf re-warmed, or maybe pan-fried pork chops. This was our big meal, followed that night by Sunday supper, a lighter repast.

In my own family, I also prepare a special meal for Sunday dinner. We eat it in the evening after a light lunch at our church. These recipes may take a tad longer to prepare or might have more expensive ingredients, but always I cook more than we can eat. I am the mistress of “repurposing” leftovers!

Be sure to put the leftover salmon in the freezer. Tonight’s salmon is going to show up in tacos or a quiche within the next couple of weeks. Everybody has shis favorite way to grill salmon. Try this one or use your own. But include salmon in your monthly meal planning.

Grilled Salmon (serves 1-6 depending on how many leftovers you want)

4-6 salmon steaks, skin on

½ cup orange juice

1 tablespoon olive oil

4 tablespoons teriyaki marinade and sauce

4 teaspoons minced ginger (fresh or Gourmet Garden)

1 tablespoon minced lemon grass (fresh or Gourmet Garden)

1 package baby spinach

Put orange juice, teriyaki sauce, and ginger in a large zipper bag.

Let marinate for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator, turning every 15-20 minutes to coat all sides.

Remove salmon from the refrigerator. Discard marinade. Cook on a medium high grill, flesh side down, for 7 minutes.

Turn and finish cooking, skin-side down. Total cooking time is 10-20 minutes (depending on thickness). Check flakiness. It’s done when salmon easily flakes.

Steam the spinach to make a bed for the salmon. Serve with an herbed quinoa side.

You deserve a treat for eating so abstemiously. Try this simple cake to top off the meal!

Easiest-Ever Lemon Cake

1 box angel food cake (the kind requiring only water added)

2 ½ jars of lemon curd (or use a whole can of lemon pie filling)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

With mixer on medium speed, mix lemon curd into dry cake mix. Pour into a baking dish prepared with non-stick cooking spray.

Bake for about 40 minutes. Check doneness with a toothpick inserted in the middle.

Let cool and serve as is or sprinkle with powdered sugar or make a lemon and powdered sugar glaze. FYI, the cake has an angel food texture, not that of a traditional cake.

DH’s Rating: Five Tongues Up

This is grilled salmon is a standard meal he asks for regularly. And he grills it perfectly. He always proclaims how healthy he feels after eating it. And, though light, the heavy dose of protein makes him feel full without feeling stuffed.