Baked Salmon with Mango Salsa Dinner For Two

Hi, me again!
I know that during this time of the world being upside down, a lot of people are turning to new recipes and spending way more time in their kitchens. I have (somehow) done the opposite. I have been rotating a lot of the same recipes that we have always done because in this time of complete uncertainty, I can rely on my go-to recipes to create some kind of normalcy…? I know, it’s weird. This recipe is one that I have been making for Kevin and myself since we’ve been living together- 4 years?!- and it is definitely a favorite. We don’t make this meal as often as we’d like because our number one priority for meal planning is sticking to a budget and salmon filets can become more expensive than the typical proteins we build our meals around. BUT… we have recently begun shopping at Sam’s and we got a killlllller deal on a skinless salmon filet that we cut into 8 individual filets, making each filet only $3.25!!! I think this recipe may be revisited more often because of this (which is awesome!).

Servings
4
Like I said above, the salmon that we purchased created 8 individual filets. For this recipe, we only used 4 🙂

Cost
Total: $26.89
Per Serving: $6.72

Time
Prep: 15- 20 minutes
Cook: 15- 20 minutes
Total: 30- 40 minutes

Ingredients
4 Salmon Filets
1/2 of a Red Onion
2 Red Peppers
3 Mangos
2 Avocados

Seasonings
Salt
Pepper
1/3 cup of Cilantro
1.5 Lime
Olive Oil

Step 1: To start, you’ll dice all of the vegetables– red peppers and red onion. Because this is a salsa, you’ll want the ingredients to all be diced smaller. For this dish, I love to add 1/4-1/2 an avocado to the plate for a little extra color, flavor, and fat. I don’t necessarily add it to the salsa and usually dice the half length-wise.

Step 2: Dice the fruit. The mango may be the one ingredient that needs more instruction when dicing. When I first started using fresh mango in my recipes I definitely had to look up how to cut a mango on YouTube (lol)… and I recommend doing that if you need more of a visual than I can provide! Still a mango newbie here! You’ll want to start by making vertical slices around the seed. Line up the stem so you know where to avoid. Next, you’ll slice a grid pattern into each slice. If this is how you cut avocados, you’re in luck because it’s pretty similar. Be sure not to cut into the skin while you’re making your horizontal and vertical slices. Once you have made the grids into each piece, you can cut the chunks off by guiding the knife closely to the skin. I told you I am a newbie… so hopefully the pictures help clear up my amateur mango dicing skills! 😉

Step 3: Once all of your veggies are cut, you can dice up your cilantro and slice open your limes into 3 halves.

Step 4: Combine your red peppers, red onion, mango, cilantro, and limes into a bowl and mix.

Step 5: Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Step 6: Season the salmon. Unless I am making a very specific-themed salmon dish (Asian, Italian, etc.) I usually only season my salmon with salt and pepper. At this point I will also add 2 tablespoons in an oven-safe pan and turn the burner to medium-high heat to get the oil warmed up.

Step 7: Start cooking the rice. You all know (or maybe you don’t HA) I usually use par-boiled or pre-cooked rice. This just reduces time and allows me to not be stuck in the kitchen forever! If this is not your first choice, by all means prepare your preferred rice. At this time, I will usually get the water and rice measured out into the pot and start cooking it.

Step 8: Once your oiled pan is heated, you can add the salmon. Cook the salmon on the stove for 4 minutes. This will make it nice and crispy before going into the oven.

Step 9: Place the oven safe pan with the salmon and olive oil into the oven for 7-10 minutes. You want your salmon to cook between 110-140 degrees F. If the temperature reaches above 140 degrees F, your salmon is likely over cooked (which is honestly so easy to do).

Step 10: Once your salmon reaches the desired internal temperature, remove from the pan and let rest for a few minutes. I always plate this meal with the rice on the bottom, then salmon, with the mango salsa resting on top. If you decided to have avocado with this meal, you can either set on top of the salmon with the salsa or to the side– or honestly whatever you want to do (there are no rules!).

Step 11: I LOVE cilantro… so at this point I add more of that to the plate.

Step 12: Eat it up!!!

I love hearing if you’ve had this meal before, are planning to try it, or have made it and loved it! As I always say, I myself am the worst recipe follower… I just add seasonings and cook on intuition, writing these out is getting easier for me, but I am absolutely no expert! Thanks for following along for the recipes I can actually organize. 🙂 I hope everyone is staying safe and healthy during this crazy time!