Salmon with Roasted Pineapple-Mango Salsa, Fried Plantains, and Coconut Rice

It all started when I ran into my local produce market to grab some kombucha as I'm on a kick as of late... (more on that some other time). In front of the market there are bins of fruit sitting out - tangerines, mangos, papayas, lemons, and oranges, and oh the pineapple! There they were lots of large and perfectly ripe pineapple. They caught my eye, sure, but when the aroma of them lingered I knew I had to buy one.

Right below the perfectly ripe pineapple were the perfectly ripe plantains. And if you aren't familiar with plantains that means they're black and not yellow like a traditional banana. So my impulses gave in and bought a large pineapple and two large plantains. Now since I was just running out I didn't have time to go shopping. However, as I began the climb up 14th st to my house the ingredients of mango salsa began running through my head. Suddenly, I was scolding myself for not having bought all of the ingredients. And so the idea of my meal had grown from an impulse into a menu...

This menu will bring you directly to the Caribbean. It's full of flavor and bright colors. It will not disappoint. But if you really want to go to the Caribbean you'll need to make a Painkiller to go along with it. I'll let Lauren do the honors of posting that recipe here some other time.

Salmon with Roasted Pineapple-Mango Salsa

Ingredients:

• Salmon filets
• Salt and pepper
• Mango Salsa
  

Salsa:

• 1/2 C diced roasted pineapple (see instructions below)
• 1/2 C diced mango
• 1/4 C minced green bell pepper
• 1-2 limes, juiced
• 1/4 C diced red onion
• 1/2 C diced firm ripe tomato
• 1 red chili pepper minced (no seeds)
• 1/2 t sea salt
• 1/8 t ground black pepper

To prepare the roasted pineapple:
Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Remove the pineapple skin and slive lengthwise - approximately 1/4" thick. Spread out on a sheet pan lined with foil and bake for approximately 25 minutes, or until the pineapple releases its liquid. Remove pineapple center core and dice.

To prepare the salsa:
Dice all fruits and vegetables and place in a bowl. Squeeze out the the juice of 1-2 limes (depending on how juicy, roughly 2T) over the diced ingredient. Season with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature for up to 2 hours. It's important to let the ingredients rest for at least 30 minutes so all flavors can combine.

To prepare the Salmon:
Preheat broiler. Place salmon on a metal baking sheet and spring with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper. Broil fish until it just starts to firm and is no longer translucent (5-7 minutes depending on how thick your fish is). Turn fish over and broil 2 minutes longer. Transfer to plates and top with Pineapple-Mango Salsa.


Fried Plantains with Brown Sugar Rum Sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 very ripe plaintains (black)
• 1 C dark rum
• 1/3 C packed brown sugar
• 2T butter
• 2T canola oil
• pinch of salt

Heat grill to high. Place rum, brown sugar, and salt in a small saucepan and cook until the sugar has melted and the mixture reduces and thickens slightly. Stir in butter until melted. Remove from the heat.

While making the brown sugar rum sauce, peel and slice plantains 1/2" thick on the bias. Place butter and oil in a pan over medium heat. Once pan is heated place plantains in. Cook for about 10 minutes, or 5 minutes per side. Depending on how ripe your plaintains are they may carmelize quickly. This is a good thing! Just keep on eye on them to see how carmelized, or charred you like them. The rum sauce and plantains should finish about size. Drizzle sauce over plantains once complete.


Coconut Rice

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups long-grain rice
• 1 T olive oil
  
• 1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk
• 2/3 cup water
• 1 teaspoon salt

Directions:In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the rice and stir to coat with the oil. Add the coconut milk, water, and salt; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer about 20 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed.

Remove the rice from the heat and fluff with a fork. Place a clean, dry dish towel over the pan, cover with the lid, and let steam for 5 minutes before serving.

Buon Appetito!
- Lindsay

panko crusted tilapia with coconut curry sauce

So its not the best photo - but I tend to not carry my camera on me, so I'm left with my camera phone. Anyway - I was in the mood to come up with some sort of dish that included panko crusted tilapia, jasmine rice, and some kind of yummy sweet/spicy sauce. When I say spicy.... I mean uses spices... I can't handle the heat! So this is not a hot spicy dish! But it is a delicious dish and very affordable!

Panko Crusted Tilapia:
2 servings

Ingredients -

• 1c Panko bread crumbs
• 1t paprika
• 1t dry mustard
• 1 egg
• 2-3 tilapia filets (depends on the size of the fish and how big of an appetite your boyfriend has)
• salt and pepper

Directions -

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Combine the panko, dry mustard, and paprika. Pour into a shallow dish or plate. Beat the egg in a separate bowl and pour onto a separate plate. Season the tilapia with salt and pepper. You can also adjust the amount of mustard and paprika in the panko mixture. we didn't measure, so the 1t was a rough estimate!
   
3. Dredge the fish in the egg wash and then follow in the panko mixture and then set onto a baking sheet. I covered my baking sheet with foil and sprayed with cooking spray to prevent sticking.
4. Bake for 10-12 minutes, depending on the size of the fish. You want the fish to flake apart with the touch of a fork.
   

Coconut Curry Sauce:
serves 2

Ingredients -

• 1/2c - 1c canned coconut milk*
• 2t soy sauce
• 1/2t curry powder (I recommend Madras Curry Powder, which you can find at whole foods)
• 1 1/2T packed brown sugar
  
• 2t unseasoned rice vinegar or cider vinegar
• 2t canola oil
• 2t cornstarch dissolved in 1 1/2t cold water

Directions -

1. Combine all ingredients except for the cornstarch mixture in a small saucepan. Whisk together to combine.
2. Heat over medium high heat. Before mixture comes to a boil, add the cornstarch mixture. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly. Once the mixture boils, continue to cook for one more minute. Sauce should now be thick. This is the time to taste as well. We added about 1t of paprika to the sauce to cut the sweetness. Sauce will be thick.
3. Pull off heat and pour over fish/rice. Enjoy!

* The original recipe called for 1/2c coconut milk, but we increased it to about 1c instead. Because of this, we also had to add more cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce a bit more. We used lite coconut milk and you'd never know it was lite - so you may as well cut the calories/fat!


So I made jasmine rice to accompany the meal. I think jasmine or basamati would be great. Its got kind of a thai/indian twist to it, so I think rice is appropriate. We also got the packaged Naan you can get from whole foods - its just a fun bread to serve with the meal so you can sop up the leftover sauce with the bread. The best part - the sauce took 10 minutes to make, fish took 10 minutes to prep, rice practically cooks itself.. its a very simple meal and it was really delicious! Highly recommend!

Submitted by LAUREN!