Sweet & Salty Salmon

Growing up, salmon was never something I requested for dinner.. ever! I always thought it smelled too fishy, and that’s saying a lot from someone who grew up fishing and diving. My favorite seafood was always anything my friends, family and I use to catch ourselves. My grandfather was a fisherman, my dad is a fisherman, and a 3rd generation later my brother and I are fishermen.. fisherpeople? My favorite vacations as a kid were to our friends house in the Florida Keys. My dad would take us out on the boat and we would go fishing for hours.

Then in high school I got my first spear gun. It was a gift from my boyfriend, which may sound like an odd gift but not if you grew up in south Florida and loved diving. Also, when I was in high school my parents were able to buy their own summer house in the keys and that really changed the game. We were there every weekend that we could be! I was cheerleading almost every day during the week and then loading up my spear gun on the weekends. (I have never really fit into one box my whole life). Fun fact- the first fish I ever speared was a  grouper. So with all our own fresh caught fish, why would I ever request salmon for dinner? Well, I went away to college and then eventually moved to LA and now there are no more spontaneous weekend trips to the Florida Keys for me.

Being in LA you learn a lot about what you’re not eating. You’re not eating kale, OMG, are you crazy!? You’ve never tried bee pollen, how is that possible? What do you mean you don’t add spirulina to everything? KOMBUCHA! Once people in Los Angeles find out you don’t like something it becomes an educational class on why you should like it.

For example, welcome to my classroom here is your very short lecture on salmon. Salmon is one of the most nutritional foods on the planet! It is rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which is important because you can only get these “essential” fats from your diet. If you so wish to sit in this classroom longer, click here to learn more.

So now I want to incorporate salmon into my diet.. time to make it taste good! This recipe is one of the ways I acclimated to the “fishy” fish, as I once referred to it and now love! I did alter the original recipe (provided by Susie Bowman) slightly to make it my own, you are free to alter anything as well. Like I always say, be a rebel do it your own way!!

Ingredients

1/4 Cup Mix of Raisins & Cranberries

*This I changed, always be aware of added sugar in your food. Cranberries are almost always sweetened. I skipped the cranberries and used two types of raisins instead.

2 TBSP Green Olive, chopped (original recipe calls for 3 TBSP)

2 TBSP Capers

3 TBSP Pine Nuts, toasted

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

2 (8 ounce) Salmon Filets, skinned (original recipe calls for 5 ounce filets)

*I bought a 1lb piece of salmon and cut it in half.

Shallow Baking Dish

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

2. Toast the pine nuts on the stove. I dry toast them without oil.

3. In a large bowl stir together raisins, olives, capers, pine nuts and some olive oil. (I like to go easy on the olive oil here, Salmon is naturally an oily fish and we’re going to grease the baking dish.)

4. Grease the baking dish with the extra virgin olive oil. (I use Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray, from Trader Joe’s)

5. Season the salmon. Salt & pepper the fish on both sides.

6. Place the salmon in the baking dish, skin side down (I know it’s skinless, but it should be the flatter side)

7. Cover the salmon completely with the mixture.

8. Bake 10-15 minutes.

I hope you enjoyed this story, but more importantly this easy to make salmon recipe. Remember to tag me on instagram in anything from #therebelblonde to be featured on my story and leave comments below. Enjoy your Sweet & Salty Salmon!

xoxo,

the Rebel Blonde