Kate's Cure for the Common Cuisine: Chipotle Salmon

Last spring I found a delicious alternative to naked chicken and salmon dishes: preservatives + chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. Something about the summer months, the want to grill (or fake grill on a griddle to stay out of the heat), and the fruity tastes mixed in is just perfect. I've done raspberry, peach, mango, and cherry jams/preserves with a dash of heat added to it and we just love it! In last night's post, I mentioned we had no meal planning prior to our grocery store run. As we looked for options for the rest of the week, we decided to grab 2 side potentials and some salmon for tonight, then see what we came up with.

For this recipe, I had a can of chipotle peppers in adobo and a plethora of preserves in my fridge. I decided to go with cherry this time because we hadn't tried that flavor with salmon yet, only with chicken. This time, I decided to change it up a bit with other ingredients I had on hand. The result? Let's just say, it will be made again. And again, and again, and again.

But, let me fill you in on a little something that I learned. For as long as I can remember, I have asked the fish man behind the counter to please remove the skin off the fish for me. This past time when I asked, he turned to me and said "you know, you are losing nutritional value when you do that," - and I said "really, do tell?" - he proceeds to tell me that all the omegas and fish oils are found in the skin. I felt enlightened! The way to take full advantage of this is to cook with skin on, and when you flip it skin-side up, that is when the omega oils filter down into the "meat" of the fish. That created a new wrinkle in my brain, I wanted to pass along that little nugget of wisdom for anyone else that may not have know that either!

This dish was a simple 20 minute fix from prep time to fork finish. Nutritional facts can be found here, calculated at SparkRecipes.com; one 4 ounce salmon is 6 WW points.

Grocery List:
Sauce yields enough for 4 servings

2 salmon fillets, 4-6 oz. each
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cherry preserves
2 tbsp. sauce from chili pepper in adobo
2 tbps. lime juice
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. cumin

Start by greasing and heating a grill or griddle pan on medium-high heat. In a food processor, add the ketchup, preserves, adobo sauce, lime juice, garlic powder and cumin. Pulse until well mixed.

Place the salmon skin side down on the surface. Brush a light layer of the chipotle sauce to top the salmon, then cover. Cook for about 8 minutes, or until the sides of the fish begin to look pink/white.