Grilled Salmon

I feel like I sometimes get into a rut, cooking the same things repeatedly. I've been making a lot of winter dishes lately, and with the weather so nice lately, I felt the need to readjust and think about spring foods. I wanted to try something new.

I wonder what it is that makes us want lighter foods when the weather is nice, and richer foods when the weather is cold. Why do I want a tuna melt and soup in December and a tuna sandwich with grapes in May? It can't just be because of which foods are in season, there has to be something about the way our bodies are affected by temperature that gives us a craving.

It was a nice spring day today, I wanted to find something light and springlike for dinner. Okay, so what's springlike? Bobby's not really picky, except that he has this need to have meat in every meal, and isn't fond of chicken. I can get away with chicken every once and awhile, and he'll eat it, but it's never something he loves. Steak sounded so rich, and I just couldn't get excited about a burger.

I spent a little time looking around Epicurious and came across this recipe: Grilled Salmon Steaks with Lime Butter. Fish - perfect! Hmm... and what to have with it? Something light...I've had a lot of salad lately, so that wasn't too appealing... grilled veggies I think. And something about grilled salmon and veggies makes me think rice.

On my way to the market, Bobby called to say Josh would be joining us for dinner. Unfortunately the fish selection at the markets near my house are pretty slim. No fish steaks of any kind; I was able to find some pretty fat salmon fillets, so that would have to do. Two fillets seemed just the right amount for the three of us.

Instead of mixing the pepper into the lime juice and butter, I just mixed the lime juice and butter, poured it over my fish, and ground the pepper onto the fish. I let it sit a bit longer than just while the grill warmed up; it also marinated while I prepped the veggies before starting the grill.

My veggies were pretty simple - just one zucchini and one yellow squash sliced into thick discs, one red pepper cut in 4 squares, and 6 baby bella mushrooms. I coated them in Italian dressing, making sure the mushrooms had plenty under the caps.

While I preheated the grill, I started some jasmine rice. I figured that it would be nice and light and go well with the fish. I cooked it in a tiny bit of canola oil at first so it wouldn't be sticky, and added a little lime juice to tie it in with the fish. By the time I added the water and covered it up, the grill was ready.

I put the mushrooms on first, since they were pretty fat, and when I threw on the salmon they flamed up pretty high (which I kind of expected with the butter). The flams died down after a minute or two, and I threw on the rest of the veggies. The salmon flamed up again when I flipped them, and once the flames died down I basted them with some of the leftover lime butter from the marinade pan.

By the time I pulled everything off, the rice was just finishing - I love when everything finishes at the same time. Half of a fillet was enough for each plate, with another half left over if anyone wanted. Perfect.

Everything was really tasty, and I achieved the lightness I was looking for. Josh was raving about the mushrooms, in fact he said they were the best mushrooms he'd ever had. The fish was tasty but not over-citrusy, and the rice complemented the others perfectly. The boys ended up splitting the left-over salmon, and all that was left in the end was some rice.