I can be so picky with fish at times but if one thing is fo sho, is I know I LOVE the blackened tilapia from rubios that’s discontinued and I LOVE salmon. Lol
This dish has nothing to do with the rubios situation but I would be lying if I said I don’t think about those tacos once a week.
This recipe is a little nostalgic for me. I used to work at a spa. Truly the best experience. I loved working here. When I tell you I lived, worked and played here, I truly did. When it comes to the amenities, you feel wrapped in all its glory. One of my favorite parts was the restaurant and the cafe. Food always top of the line. The cafe went through a few menu changes and it was always fire. There was a phase where they had build your own ancient grain bowls. AMAZING. One of the sauce options they had to add on to your bowl was ponzu sauce.
for some reason ponzu is the first thing I thought of besides teriyaki when I pulled out this salmon from the fridge. I didn’t have all the ingredients usually required but I just know this will be DELICIOUS. here’s how I made it:
PONZU:
-Dice 6 big cloves of garlic
-Fresh cracked black pepper (amount to your hearts desire)
-Lime Juice! (Two whole limes)
-Honey (maybe 2 table spoons… amount to your hearts desire)
Mix until the honey is mixed in. The acid from the lime helps break it down
then,
-Rice Vinegar (1 tablespoon)
-Stir in soy sauce… I feel like I did about half a cup? I’m bad with measurements sometimes. I eyeball and taste test. So I guess with this part, play with it! It’s your kitchen & taste buds hehe
then I placed the salmon in a large freezer ziplock baggy and poured in the Ponzu! I allowed it to marinate until dinner time so about 5-6 hours. You can do 24 hours or so as well. If you didn’t give yourself marinate time, that’s fine too. Whatever is clever :) The just have fun.
SIDE SALAD:
Summer is the best because the garden is poppin. Being able to pick delicious selections to make a salad of sorts and not have to go buy each ingredient is so woaw. You can do this anyway you like. I make this salad often. This is the first time being able to use a full cucumber and all tomatoes and basil from the garden! Here’s how I made it…
-One cucumber diced up
-A bunch of tomatoes (whatever your fave tomatoes are… a good one for the recipe is the rainbow cherry tomato size mix from the grocery store)
-One red onion (I cut the onion in half and then sliced them thin so they have that half moon shape and fall apart nicely in the salad… cut however you prefer)
-Basil! Chop dice and add that in
-Lime Juice & Lemon Juice (whole lemon & lime)
-Drizzle of olive oil
-Garlic Salt and Fresh cracked black pepper
Mix and let it marinate
i will let this sit in the fridge til dinner time… so about 4 hours or so. I love when the flavors have a chance to sit together
GRILL SALMON
- skin side down first & baste the juice on so there’s more there. Don’t be shy. And add a little butter too
-after 5 mins flip & you can peel the skin off easy with tongs
- once the other side is cooked(up to 5mins) flip back over so the bottom can get a little grill crisp too
& done!
You may prepare Jasmine Rice or Brown Rice with this for a little more of a full meal or eat it without.
& Serve!!!
Rice with soy sauce dizzle
Salad
Salmon on top
Not pictured bcz the plain salmon is so purdy, I topped with a tiny splash of soy sauce, tahini and lime juice
x♡o