Coconut Curry Salmon

Welcome to my new favorite salmon recipe. I love salmon so much, that I don't "dress it up" too often. My usual method is to smear it with a light pat of butter and cover in salt and pepper and throw it in the oven. But I do love red curry, and so when I saw this recipe on the amazing cooking blog Pinch of Yum (written by a fellow Minnesotan!), I knew I had to try it.

The salmon gets coated in a paste of spices and then baked at a high temp quickly - watch yours so it doesn't dry out. Dry salmon = gross. You want it flaky but tender and still with a little color. If you don't have a meat thermometer, they are pretty useful for things like this that you don't want to overcook!

But the real star here is the red coconut curry sauce. Oh my word. I could drink this. I love red curry - have you made the curry butternut soup? - and the creamy coconut milk makes this divine. Then there's lemongrass, ginger, garlic, fish sauce - those are all an added bonus that make this sauce sing! Throw in some chopped spinach at the end, and serve it over rice, and you have a wonderfully easy, fast, delicious dinner! 

(Note: I had a lot of sauce leftover, so the next night I added some raw shrimp to the sauce, and warmed it until the shrimp were cooked through. I served it over the leftover rice with a side veg. We loved it! If you wanted to make it seem like a "different" meal, you could add rice noodles and bok choy or another good stir fry vegetable!)

Coconut Curry Salmon

Salmon:
1 1/2 pounds salmon
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. olive oil

Coconut Curry:
1 Tbsp. olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small knob of ginger, grated
1 Tbsp. lemongrass paste
1 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 Tbsp. red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
2 Tbsp. fish sauce
zest and juice of 1-2 limes
3-4 cups fresh spinach, chopped

For the salmon:

Combine the brown sugar, curry powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and olive oil in a small bowl or ramekin. Stir until it makes a paste, then rub it liberally over the salmon flesh.  

Place the salmon skin side down on the baking sheet. Bake for 6-12 minutes at 475, placing the baking sheet in the top 6 inches of the oven. Salmon should be cooked to between 125-135 degrees. It will continue to cook after you've removed it from the oven, so don't overcook.

While the salmon bakes, make the coconut curry sauce. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic, ginger, and lemongrass paste; sauté for 3 minutes. Add brown sugar and curry paste; sauté for 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, then fish sauce, lime juice, and lime zest to taste. Add spinach and stir into the sauce until wilted.

Serve salmon over rice, covered with the sauce, and additional lime juice if you like.  

Recipe Source: Pinch of Yum