I love fish, especially salmon.  Funny thing:  I pronounce salmon, SAL-MON.  I notice Americans pronounce it SA-MON.   They leave the "L" out.  So, when I say SAL-MON, they look at me funny.  LOL!  I’m not sure where or how I learned to prounonce it that way but that’s the way I do.   Anyway, whichever way it’s pronounced, I love this fish and when I saw the recipe for Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa (and a photo of the meal — please, please check out Laylita’s enticing photo.), I couldn’t resist making it.  Actually, the Avocado Salsa is what got me.  I’d never before heard of anything like that to eat with salmon. 

The next day after work, I bought the ingredients and set out to prepare it for dinner.  Regular readers know by now that I love simple and easy-to-make meals.  This is definitely one.  Oh, and another enticing factor about this recipe is that it has cilantro.  Hello!?  Cilantro!  Again, regular readers know that cilantro is my all-time favorite fresh herb.  Yes! 

Laylita’s recipe calls for the cilantro to be finely chopped.  Umm…  I didn’t really do that and I clearly added more than the 2 Tbs of cilantro.  Next time, I’ll try to follow the recipe better. 

The salsa was very easy to put together.  No problem.

I got out my grill pan and prepared the salmon.  My dogs LOVE fish and started getting excited about the aroma wafting from the kitchen. 

Layla suggests the side dish of Ecuadorian rice and or Patacones (thick fried green plantains) to go with the Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa.  A third thing regular readers know about me, by now, is that I HEART plantain.   I didn’t have any plantain at home, so I ate my salmon and avocado salsa with rice.  That was good enough.  It was mouthwatering delicious.  I loved my meal.  I loved the Avocado salsa, which was new and different to me.  It sort of had a tangy taste, which enhanced the grilled salmon that had been marinated in salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onions and black pepper.  Let me tell you, it tasted so good.  I normally only use salt and black pepper when preparing my salmon, so these spices were an added treat to use on the salmon.

The next day, I had some leftover salmon and salsa, so I had it again for dinner.  This time I’d bought some yellow (ripe) plantain (kelewele — see photo here), which I fried and ate with the fish.  Oh, how I enjoyed my dinner even more.  I can’t wait to make this dish again.  Thank you, Laylita!

In the meantime, I’m scheduled to have surgery this week –Tuesday.  The recovery time is a bit long, so I won’t be able to post any food posts for a while.  Some awesome food bloggers have agreed to guest blog for me while I’m recuperating.  I’m really excited to see what they have planned for us.  I thank my guest bloggers in advance for their kindness.  You won’t see me on your blogs for a while but I plan on stopping by as soon as I can.

So see you soon on the blogs and don’t forget to come back here next Tuesday to find out about our first guest blogger.

Best,

Paz

GRILLED SALMON WITH AVOCADO SALSA

Laylita’s Recipes

Ingredients (for 4 people):

2lbs salmon, cut into 4 pieces

1 tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp paprika powder

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp black pepper

Avocado Salsa

1 avocado, peeled, seeded and sliced

1 small red onion, sliced

3 mild hot peppers, seeded and deveined, diced or sliced

Juice from 2 limes

3 tbs olive oil

2 tbs finely chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

Suggested sides — Rice (rice Ecuadorian style)and patacones (thick fried green plantains)

Preparation:

1.  Mix the salt, coriander, cumin, paprika, onion and black pepper together, rub the salmon fillets with olive oil and this seasoning mix, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.

2.  Pre-heat the grill.

3.  Combine the avocado, onion, hot peppers, cilantro, lime juice, olive oil and salt in a bowl and mix well, chill until ready to use.

4.  Grill the salmon to desired donesness.

5.  Serve the salmon topped with the avocado salsa, and with rice and patacones or thick green plantain chips on the side.