Grilled Salmon with Smoky Yellow Pepper Salsa

What a tasty treat this was! A perfect, delicious mixture of sweet and spicy!

I did things a little differently from what the cookbook suggests. The cookbook has you use a Grill Pan to cook the salmon, but with it being such a beautiful evening, I couldn't pass up an opportunity to fire up the grill!

 Nothing like the smell of a charcoal grill! Love it!

yellow pepper salsa 

I love cooking on a charcoal grill! I love the way it smells, the way the food tastes... Also, cooking on a grill usually means nice weather and relaxing on the back porch - both of which I'm big fans of! Cooking this recipe on an actual grill I feel had a lot to do with how delicious it turned out! (I'm sure it would have been delicious fixing it the way the cookbook suggests also.) 

What I did was create a tray out of tinfoil for the salmon to sit in. After I mixed together the yellow pepper salsa, I poured the salsa over the fish, and then closed up the tinfoil, leaving a small opening for venting purposes. Then I put the tinfoil tray on the grill and let it all cook together! Cooking a salmon fillet in this fashion would normally only take around 10 minutes, but we had a pretty thick piece of fish, so it took a little longer. Just check it and see how it looks! 

The fish was so delicious! It was very tender and juicy. The salsa was incredible! As I said earlier, it was a perfect combination of sweet and spicy and had a wonderful flavor! The flavors and juices really cooked into the fish - cooking the fish and the salsa together in the tinfoil on the grill I feel really added a lot to this dinner.

A few notes from the cookbook: 1) For Toasted Chili Oil, wearing plastic gloves, break 16 dried arbol chiles into pieces, discarding seeds. Heat 1/4 cup vegetable oil in (1.5-qt.) Saucepan on medium heat until hot. Add chiles; reduce heat to low. Cook until chiles begin to look crisp. Remove from heat; cool completely. This versatile oil can be used in place of olive or vegetable oil whenever a kick of extra heat is desired. Store at room temperature, covered up to 1 month, 2) If desired, 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes can be substituted for the arbol chiles, and 3) For roasted bell pepper, place bell pepper directly over gas flame on high heat or under a broiler. Cook about 8-10 minutes or until charred on all sides, turning occasionally using Chef's Tongs. Remove from heat and place in large resealable plastic bag or small paper bag. Seal bag and let stand 10 minutes; peel off the skin and remove the seeds and stem.

I'll be honest with you guys - I didn't roast my yellow bell pepper and I just used the crushed red pepper in place of making the Toasted Chili Oil with the arbol chiles. And you know what, what we had was delicious! So, you can go all out with this recipe, or take the short cuts and you'll be fine! Either way, definitely give this dish a try - you'll be happy you did!

Grilled Salmon with Smoky Yellow Pepper Salsa

Pampered Chef: Cooking for Two & More

Published by The Pampered Chef, Ltd. in 2006.

Prep time: 20 minutes  Total time: About 45 minutes  Yield: 2 servings

1 small yellow bell pepper, roasted (see above instructions)

1/2 plum tomato, seeded and diced

2 green onions with tops, sliced

2 tablespoons orange juice

1-2 teaspoons Toasted Chili Oil (or 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes)

3/4 teaspoon salt, divided

2 skinless salmon fillets (4-6 ounces each)

Small navel orange, scored and cut into 1/4-inch slices (optional)

1. Peel, seed and chop bell pepper. Combine pepper, tomato, onions, orange juice, chili oil and 1/2 teaspoon of the salt; stir until well blended. Set aside until ready to serve.

2. Season salmon with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Heat Grill Pan over medium-high heat 5 minutes. Lightly grease pan with vegetable oil. Add salmon, top side down. Cook 10-12 minutes or until salmon flakes easily with a fork, turning once. Remove salmon from pan to serving platter. If desired, place orange slices onto Grill Pan; remove when grill marks appear. If desired, arrange orange slices onto serving plates; top with salmon and salsa.