Senorita Salmon

I really rocked my sexy spanish senorita's boat last night.....with my latin-inspired baked salmon filet and chunky salsa-amole. I wouldn't normally think of going south of the border on salmon but I planned this meal around tuna steaks and when I couldn't find any nice tuna steaks at the market, I improvised! Trust me, just make this!

Ingredients:
2 average salmon filets, skin on, 5-6 ounces each
1 lime
two avocados
1 small onion, finely diced
1-2 small cloves of garlic, finely minced
3 tbsp. chopped cilantro
2-3 roma tomatos, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp. olive oil
1 small jalapeno pepper, seeded and finely diced
Black Pepper, freshly-cracked
Coarse Sea Salt

For the Salsa-amole:

Combine tomatos, garlic, onion, 1/2 of the jalapeno pepper, and 1/2 of the the cilantro. Halve the avocados lengthwise and remove the pit. Score the flesh of the avocados lengthwise and then widthwise and use a spoon to scoop out the resulting cubes. Combine the avocado with the other ingredients and squeeze in the juice of half a lime. Season to taste with freshly-cracked black pepper and course sea salt Cover tightly and refrigerate until you are ready to serve.

For the Salmon:

Rinse salmon filets under cold running water and pat dry with a paper towel. Place the filets, skin side down on a foil-lined baking pan. Season well with freshly-cracked black pepper, course sea salt, the zest of the whole lime, the remaining cilantro and diced jalapeno pepper. Drizzle the filets with olive oil and the remaining lime juice. Place a thin slice of lime on top of each filet. Allow the seasoned and dressed salmon filets to "marinate" at room temperature for 20-30 minutes before baking. Heat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit and bake salmon to desired doneness. I actually prefer salmon just slightly rare but you can tell it is fully cooked and well done when it flakes easily with a fork in the thihckest part of the filet. Serve the salmon hot out of the oven with the creamy, chunky, chilled, salsa-amole on the side! Esta Loco!

I also served an exotic blend of wild rice which I fried quickly in garlic and onion infused olive oil then covered with water, salted, and let simmer until tender but still toothsome and chewy. This would also be great with a more traditional spanish style rice with tomatos and green chillis.

This is completely off the reservation but I also steamed/sauteed some baby spinach in garlic and olive oil at the specific request of "La Dona de Casa." Season to taste with salt and pepper of course but I have also become acustomed to grating fresh nutmeg on any dark green leaves that I saute or steam because it is just crazy good that way and no one ever really knows that its nutmeg but everyone loves it! Perhaps not a very rational choice as a side for this meal but Kristi has never claimed to be very rational when it comes to planning a menu and I am all over any opportunity I have to comply with a specific request AND get dark green leaves into the mouths of my immediates. So spinach it was! Call it "espinacas de ajo" if it makes you feel more gastronomically or culturally consistent.

Even "mis hijos" ate heartily and I refuse to belive it was because I promised them each one of the Dunkin Donuts left over from their road trip home from Philly the other day, if they cleaned their plate!

Hasta luego!