My Carolina Kitchen

My Carolina Kitchen is celebrating its 6th blog anniversary this month. I can hardly believe it’s been six years and that old saying must be true – “time flies when you’re having fun.”  And fun it has been. But for me the best part is the opportunity to get to know you my readers better. The blogging community is such a wonderfully supportive group and it is a real pleasure to be a part of it. Meakin & I have been fortunate to meet many of you in person, often including your spouse and family. We hope to meet even more of you in the future.

To thank my loyal followers, I’m giving away a copy of The Little Paris Kitchen by Rachel Khoo. I first got to know Rachael from her series television series The Little Paris Kitchen. For those of you who may not be familiar with Rachael, she moved to Paris to study patisserie and consequently fell in love with the city. She opened her very own restaurant in Paris in her tiny kitchen there, a very itsy bitsy kitchen in fact. That launched her career and she is now a bestselling author. Her wit and personality will definitely put a smile on your face.

It’s easy to qualify to win the cookbook. All you have to do is be a follower of My Carolina Kitchen and leave a comment below saying so and also what is your favorite French food. Following by email counts too. For an extra chance, follow My Carolina Kitchen on Facebook, but be sure to make that a separate comment. Please leave your comments no later than next Wednesday, November 5 at 5 PM Eastern Standard Time. I will announce the winner here next Thursday, November 6, 2014.

At anniversary time I usually feature the most popular posts from the past. This year I thought it might be fun to talk about one of our favorite places to eat in the Palm Beach area and also one of the surprise recipes that has been a big hit on Pinterest – my sweet & spicy pineapple salsa for a luau that I served at Larry (Big Dude’s) Annual Blogger Get-together at Tellico Lake in eastern Tennessee a couple of years ago when the theme for the party was an Hawaiian Luau, post & pictures here. Larry made smoked pork butts that were wrapped in banana leaves as well as smoked ribs below for the Luau.





It turned out that the sweet & spicy pineapple salsa was a perfect complement to BBQ. The recipe was inspired by a sweet and spicy salsa I first tasted at Little Moir’s Food Shack, a funky fish joint on the east coast of Florida just north of Palm Beach. It blew my socks off from the very first bite. I had never ever tasted anything that even resembled the burst of flavors in the fruit salsa. Moir’s changes the fruit in the salsas depending on the season and what’s the freshest.



Sweet & Spicy Pineapple Salsa/Sambal
My Carolina Kitchen’s version of Fruit Salsa from Little Moir’s Food Shack, Jupiter, Florida – serves 4
Printable Recipe

½ of a pineapple, peeled, cored, and chopped
1 large mango, peeled and chopped
1 tomato, seeded & diced (Roma tomatoes work well)
½ red onion, minced
Juice of ½ to 1 lime or to taste
1 tablespoon hot pepper, such as a jalapeno, minced (or more to taste)
2 rice unseasoned rice vinegar
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey (or more to taste)
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fresh basil, cut in a chiffonade
Hot sauce, such as Tabasco, as needed

Place first six ingredients in a large bowl and toss gently. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, add the vinegar, olive oil and honey and shake well. Pour over the fruit and season with salt & pepper. Add basil and cilantro and toss gently. Taste the mixture for seasonings and add more hot pepper, lime, or honey to taste. You want a nice balance of sweet and spicy. Sometimes I add a few dashes of hot sauce, such as Tabasco, for more heat. Let mixture stand at room temperature for about 30 minutes.

This is great with any fish dish and is also incredible served with BBQ.

Photo of Little Moir's Food Shack dining room courtesy of Big Dude's Eclectic Ramblings

Little Moir’s Food Shack is in an ordinary looking strip mall near a Publix Supermarket on the corner of A1A and Indiantown Road in Jupiter, Florida, just north of Palm Beach. You could easily miss it if you weren’t looking for it, but don’t let the looks of the place deceive you. Owner Mike Moir (rhymes with foyer) is the Chef and an absolute genius when it comes to seafood. He calls his cooking style “a simple twist of taste,” but it a far cry from simple taste. The tastes he creates will excite your taste buds and make your mouth sing. The soups change daily and are incredible too. Meakin’s favorite is panko fried oysters over greens, mixed fruit and gorgonzola. My favorite dish is the tuna basil rolls with wasabi dipping sauce served with their spicy fruit salsa (very similar to the pineapple one above) Here’s a link to My Carolina Kitchen’s version of Little Moir’s Food Shack Sweet & Spicy Fruit Salsa.

Little Moir’s Food Shack is a DO NOT MISS if you are in Jupiter, Florida and it’s well worth the short drive north from Palm Beach.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my walk down blog memory lane. Don’t forget to leave a comment to win Rachael Koo’s The Little Paris Kitchen cookbook as a thank you for being a follower of My Carolina Kitchen. How to qualify for the give-away is above. Offer ends next Wednesday, November 5, 2014 at 5 PM Eastern Standard Time. The contest has ended and the winner of the cookbook is Kaye Barley. Congratulations Kaye.

Fresh southern peaches have arrived in our markets and that’s always a reason to celebrate at our house. Peach season is relatively short, so we try to incorporate fresh peaches into as many dishes as we possibly can. The recipe I’ve featured today is, for me, all about the fresh peaches.

Sweet juicy peaches combined with fresh blueberries and hot pepper jelly make for a sweet and spicy condiment for grilled bone-in pork chops, but would also be excellent on a cheese tray spooned over goat cheese or creamy Brie and served with a crisp white wine.

You've probably noticed that I use spicy fruit salsas often in my kitchen and although I've talked about it in the past here, I thought new readers might be interested in how that came about. I fell head-over-heels in love with spicy fruit salsas  when they were served with a fresh tuna roll at Little Moir's Food Shack, a very popular fish joint in Jupiter, Florida. I had never tasted anything like it before - the salsas were sweet, spicy, and hot all at the same time and burst in my mouth with fabulous new-to-me flavors. Mike Moir, the owner of The Food Shack, says his food is "a simple twist of taste," but I call it falling in love with incredible flavor combinations. Spicy, sweet, and hot salsas are a "party in your mouth." I hope you'll fall in love with them as much as I have.

I’ve broken down today's recipe into three parts – peachy blueberry salsa, grilled pork chops, and the all-purpose pork brine because all three recipes are worthy of standing-alone.

But first the peachy blueberry salsa – my favorite part of this meal of course.


Peachy Blueberry Salsa
Adapted from Southern Living, makes about 3 cups
Printable Recipe

1 large peach, or 2 small peaches
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons hot pepper jelly (I used red)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Zest and juice of 1 lime
1 small shallot, finely chopped
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Peel and dice one large or two small peaches. Coarsely chop half of the blueberries and leave the remainder whole. Set aside with the diced peaches. Combine the hot pepper jelly, olive oil, zest and juice of 1 lime in a large bowl and mix well. Add the peaches, blueberries and remaining ingredients and stir carefully. Serve immediately or cover and chill up to 24 hours. Best in my opinion served immediately. Salsa is perfect as a condiment for grilled pork chops or chicken and also excellent on a cheese tray with goat cheese or Brie.



Grilled Pork Chops with Peachy Blueberry Salsa
Adapted from Southern Living – serves 4
Printable Recipe

4 - 1 ½” thick bone-in pork chops (about 3 ¼ pounds total)
All purpose pork brine, recipe below
1 tablespoon oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Peachy Blueberry salsa, recipe above

Place chops and brine in a large zip-lock plastic freezer bag and chill for 8 hours. It’s smart to place the freezer bag in a shallow dish to prevent spills.

Remove the chops from the brine and discard brine. Let pork come to room temperature, about 30 minutes, and pat dry. Light one side of the grill, heating to 350 to 400 degrees F (medium-high), leaving the other side unlit. Brush pork chops with the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place pork over lit side and grill, covered with grill lid, for 4 minutes on each side. Transfer to unlit side and grill, covered with grill lid, 8 to 10 minutes on each side or until meat thermometer inserted in thickest portion registers 150 degrees F. Remove from heat and let stand 4 minutes. Arrange pork on serving platter and top with peachy blueberry salsa. Serve right away.

All-Purpose Pork Brine
Adapted from Southern Living, yield 1 ½ quarts
Printable Recipe

1 ½ quarts hot water
3 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons freshly ground (coarse) black pepper
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 bay leaves
½ of large lemon, sliced

Stir together all of the ingredients in a large stockpot until salt and sugar dissolve. Let stand 1 hour.

Succulent garlic flavored grilled pork tenderloin meets sweet and tangy fresh peach lime salsa to create a perfect summer on-the-grill dish. We’ve gotten some great fresh Georgia peaches this summer and they have lived up to their reputation of being some of the best peaches around. After all, Georgia is called the Peach State. But I hear from my friends that Michigan peaches are every bit as sweet and juicy and California produces some fine peaches too.

You’ll notice from the photos that we like our pork tenderloin on the pink side. In 2011 the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture lowered its safe cooking temperature for pork from 145 degrees for the longtime standard of 160. To quote Jacques Pepin, chef and cookbook author, from an article in the New York Times, “Finally people from the U.S.D.A. started cooking themselves and realized that is you have a lean piece of meat, it gets tough and dry at a higher temperature. Jacques Pepin went on to say that the 145-degree recommendation was fine for learner cuts like a pork loin, but that cuts with more fat would often be braised longer and reach higher temperatures.

No matter where you get your peaches, from Georgia to Michigan to California and beyond, this is a must-try summer dish during peach season. Just remember not to overcook your pork.



Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Peach Lime Salsa
Adapted from Taste of Summer Cookbook – serves 4

2 small cloves of garlic, minced
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1½ pounds pork tenderloin
3 large peaches or 4 small peaches, peeled and cut into ½” pieces
1 small red onion, minced
¼ cup finely chopped fresh basil
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice

In a small bowl combine the garlic, oil, salt and pepper to form a rough paste. Coat the pork with the paste and let stand it at room temperature for about 10 – 15 minutes. While pork is standing, make the salsa by combining the peaches, onion, basil, lime juice in a bowl, sprinkle with a little salt, stir very gently, and set aside.

Lightly coat a grill or grill pan with cooking spray and heat to medium-high. Grill the pork for 10 to 12 minutes per side or until it reaches your desired degree of doneness. We like our pork on the pink side at 145 degrees. Transfer the pork to a cutting board and let it rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. To serve, cut pork into 1/2” thick slices and serve warm with the fresh peach salsa.




This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, and Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper.

This is probably one of the best tomato/salsa toppings I’ve found to dress up simple chicken and fish dishes. The flavor of the tomatoes, onions, and kalamata olives seem like natural partners flavored with the balsamic vinegar, garlic, and capers.

I have used this salsa on fish and chicken numerous times lately with great success. Plum or roma tomatoes are reliable year-around, but as summer approaches, I will definitely use local home-grown tomatoes. It takes approximately ten minutes to put this salsa together and is so handy to whip up when you’re grilling outside and want a quick garnish for your chicken or steak. It’s also fabulous with pan sautéed fish.



Here it’s shown with grilled chicken. Crumbled feta cheese can be used as a garnish and a wonderful flavor enhancer.  I’ve used the cheese when I served the salsa with pan sautéed tilapia and we both loved it.

If you are looking for a way to dress up simple chicken and fish dishes, this is it. It doesn’t get any easier or quicker than this and it can be put together in a matter of minutes.



Adapted from Southern Living – makes 2 cups

4 plum tomatoes, chopped
½ small red onion, finely chopped
12 kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons drained capers
Kosher salt or grainy sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup crumbled feta cheese, optional

Stir all the ingredients, except the feta cheese, together in a medium size bowl. Cover and chill if not using right away. When you’re ready to serve, bring the mixture to room temperature and add feta cheese if desired.





This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, and Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper.

It’s fresh cherry season and time to take advantage of them while they are abundant in the market. Normally with fresh cherries I would make a clafouti, a baked French dessert of cherries baked in a thick flan-like batter and dusted with powdered sugar. But I was feeling more adventuresome and settled on a spicy fresh cherry salsa served alongside roasted pork.

The recipe calls for two cups of pitted cherries. In the past I would have used my little handheld cherry pitter and after a while, my hand would start to ache. Thanks to a gift from brother-in-law Stuart, I went through pitting two cups of cherries in record speed. He gave us this handy dandy cherry pitter from Sur la Table and believe it or not, it pits four cherries at a time with one simple motion. The tray reverses to accommodate small and large cherries and also works well as an olive pitter. And it can be washed in the dishwasher. What more could you want from a gadget. Thanks Stu. Your cherry pitter turned a chore into a breeze.

Photo - Sur la Table

I used a combination of fresh nectarines and peaches, but you could use either one you like. It would also be good with a mango if nectarines or peaches aren’t available. No need to waste the left-over pepper jelly. It’s the star of the show in an old Southern appetizer of slices of a toasted French baguette smeared with a little cream cheese or goat cheese topped with a dollop of the red pepper jelly.

This salsa is on the spicy side and if you are shy when it comes to heat, I would suggest you go light on the crushed red pepper flakes. Taste the salsa first and add more pepper flakes to taste. Southern Living served this salsa with griddle cakes, recipe here, which would make a nice breakfast. I chose roasted pork tenderloin, but it would also be delicious with grilled pork or chicken.



Spicy Fresh Cherry Salsa
Adapted from Southern Living – makes 2 ½ cups
Printable Recipe

½ cup red pepper jelly
1 tablespoon lime zest
¼ cup fresh lime juice
¼ teaspoon dried crushed red pepper, or to taste
2 cups pitted, coarsely chopped fresh cherries
¾ cup diced fresh nectarines and peaches, or all nectarines or all peaches
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup chopped scallions, green parts, or chopped chives

Whisk together red pepper jelly, lime zest, lime juice and dried crushed red peppers in a small bowl. Stir in cherries, nectarines, peaches, cilantro and scallions or chives.



Don’t forget that the Google Reader is being retired at the end of this month and you’ll want to transfer the blogs you follow to another service. Both Feedly and Bloglovin’ can easily transfer the blogs you follow from the Reader and new blogs are very easy to add. I am currently using both to see which one I like the best. One of the features I like is that you can put the blogs into categories, such as Food, Fashion, Decorating, Lifestyle, whatever you want. Both have similar layouts to the Google Reader. The end of June is just around the corner, so keep that in mind and don’t wait until the last minute to make the change.



This will be shared with Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, Foodie Friday at Simple Recipes, Seasonal Sunday at the Tablescaper, and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable.

Some people are intimidated when it comes to broiling salmon. Don’t be. Broiling is one of the easiest and fastest ways to prepare salmon and it is my preferred method. Plus, if you line your broiling pan with heavy duty foil, there’s practically no clean up necessary. I have used this recipe for years and it has never let me down.

Start with boneless fresh salmon fillets, preferably with the skin left intact. Allow the salmon come to room temperature, drizzle with a little oil, season with salt and pepper, and cook for about 8 to 10 minutes under a pre-heated electric broiler and voila, dinner is ready.

For the oil, I prefer grape seed oil because of its clean, neutral flavor and moderately high smoke point, which is important when you broil. Any other neutral tasting oil, such as canola can be substituted.

I’ve topped my broiled salmon with a peach salsa that includes tomatoes, fresh corn kernels, red onion, crunchy cucumber, and plenty of fresh basil tossed together in lemony vinaigrette. All of the ingredients are readily available at summer farmer’s markets. The cucumber gives the salsa a crunchy surprise. Nectarines could easily be substituted for the peaches.

Never fear broiling salmon again with this super easy method.



Broiled Salmon in an Electric Broiler 
Adapted from Pierre Franey, 60 Minute Gourmet – serves 4 

1 1/2 pounds boneless fresh salmon fillets, preferably with the skin left intact
2 to 3 teaspoons grape seed oil, or other neutral tasting oil
Kosher salt or sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
Lemon wedges or unsalted butter, optional

Cut the salmon into four pieces approximately the same size and weight. Put salmon on a plate, rub with oil, season with salt & pepper, and allow the salmon to sit at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes.

Preheat an electric broiler. Arrange the salmon in one layer, skin side down, on an unheated sheet pan lined with heavy duty foil for easy clean-up. Place the salmon under the broiler about six to seven inches from the source of heat. Broil 8 to 10 minutes or just until the pieces are cooked through. It is not necessary to turn the salmon. If salmon starts to get too crispy on the top, change from broil to bake and bake at 400 degrees until done. Do not overcook or the salmon will be dry. Allow to rest for a few minutes (just like you would meat or chicken) on the pan before serving. If you wish to remove the skin, slide a metal spatula between the salmon and the skin after it rests on the pan.

If desired, dot with a tiny bit of unsalted butter or squeeze a few drops of lemon juice on the top. These are not necessary if you are serving the salmon with a salsa.



Peach Salsa
From My Carolina Kitchen – makes 4 servings

4 medium sized tomatoes, cut into small chunks
1 cup chopped European seedless cucumber
1 cup fresh corn kernels, blanched
½ cup chopped red onion
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 small peaches, peeled, seeded, and cut into small chunks
¼ cup fresh basil leaves, julienned
A sprig of fresh basil for garnish if desired

Vinaigrette:
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Several dashes of hot sauce such as Tabasco, optional

Place the tomatoes, cucumber, corn, and red onion in a bowl and gently toss with a rubber spatula. Season with salt and pepper. In a jar with a tight fitting lid, combine the vinaigrette ingredients together, shake well, and set aside.

Prepare the peaches and fresh basil and add to the tomato vegetable mixture just before serving. Toss very gently with a rubber spatula, add the vinaigrette. Again toss gently, then taste for seasonings and adjust accordingly. Garnish with a sprig of fresh basil and serve at once.




This recipe will be linked to On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable, Miz Helen’s Country Kitchen Full Plate Thursday, and Foodie Friday at Rattlebridge Farms.

Like many of you, we try to maintain a healthy life-style through diet and exercise. A comedian was asked if he watched what he ate and quipped, “You bet.  I watch every bite when it goes in my mouth.”

Several weeks ago Meakin hit a plateau with his weight loss program and our trainer at the gym suggested that he keep a daily food diary. At first it sounded like a pain to write down every bite you eat and then calculate the calories, but apps and websites have changed all that. Meakin uses My Fitness Pal and what once would have been a chore is now a snap to do. We’ve found that it’s amazing that the simple act of writing down everything you eat makes you much more conscious of what you put in your mouth. My Fitness Pal is a free calorie counter and food diary using an app and a website that sync automatically.

Now, just like the comedian, we watch every bite we eat. But we wanted our bites to be delicious and low in calories, not boring and dull, so we turned to Cooking Light for help. It turns out that most of the Cooking Light recipes are on My Fitness Pal and those that are not are available on-line, making it simple to calculate your calories. As one of my favorite Food Network stars would say, “How easy is that?”

This spicy salsa with grilled pineapple and red onions is a perfect example of recipes that can be found in Cooking Light. The original recipe served the salsa with a grilled pork chop, but we substituted grilled slices of lean pork tenderloin. It would be equally delicious with grilled chicken, or your favorite fish. Enjoy this flavorful salsa and your waistline and the scale will thank you.


Spicy Grilled Pineapple and Red Onion Salsa
Adapted from Cooking Light – serves 4

4 slices of fresh pineapple, about ½” thick each
1 medium red onion, cut into ½” thick slices
Cooking spray, such as Pam
1 tablespoon seeded and minced jalapeno pepper
2 teaspoon fresh lime juice
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Coat a grill pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add pineapple and onion and cook about 4 minutes on each side or until onion is tender. Remove both from the pan and coarsely chop. Add to a bowl and toss with remaining 2 teaspoons fresh lime juice and chopped jalapeno pepper.


The opinions expressed here are solely my own and I was not compensated to recommend this. This recipe will be linked to Foodie Friday at Designs by Gollum and On the Menu Monday at Stone Gable. Be sure to drop by and see what’s cooking.

Just so you don't think all we think about is food at My Carolina Kitchen, these pretty Black-eyed Susans have been blooming in our garden in the mountains for quite a while now.

Local peaches from Georgia and South Carolina are abundant at farmer stands throughout the south right now. Sweet and juicy, they aren’t just for pies and cobblers anymore. In fact Cooking Light magazine featured fresh peaches on their July 2011 cover as a spicy salsa for grilled salmon. One look at the picture on the cover and I knew what we were having for dinner.

This dish falls into the quick and easy category and can be on your table in 30 minutes or less. It’s full of the summery flavors of tomatoes, peaches, and basil, plus it also has a big wow factor in the eye-candy department.

The original recipe calls for grilling the salmon, but I chose my tried and true broiling method which works for me every time. Why mess with success. If you like your salsa extra spicy, leave a few of the jalapeno seeds. Don’t like it hot? Leave the jalapenos out all together. The dish will still be fabulous. The salsa would also be terrific served with grilled chicken or pork.


Salmon with Tomato Peach Salsa
Adapted from Cooking Light, serves 4

Salsa:
1 cup peeled and chopped fresh peaches
¾ cup grape tomatoes, halved
¼ cup thinly vertically sliced red onion
3 – 4 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, julienned
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon or lime juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 jalapeño pepper (optional), seeds and ribs removed, chopped
Kosher salt

Salmon:
4 (6 ounce) wild caught salmon fillets
1 tablespoon grape seed oil, or other neutral tasting oil, such as canola
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Combine the salsa ingredients in a bowl and taste for seasonings, adding salt to taste. Set aside for flavors to blend.

Preheat the oven to broil. If your oven has a low setting for broil, use it. Arrange the pieces of fish in one layer, skin side down, on an unheated broiler tray or large sheet pan lined with heavy duty foil for easier clean-up. Smear the fish with the oil and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place the fish under the broiler about six to seven inches from the source of heat. Broil about six to eight minutes or just until the pieces are cooked through and the top of the fish starts to brown. It’s not necessary to turn the fish. If the fish begins to brown too much, turn the oven to 400 degrees F and bake for a few minutes until they achieve your desired degree of doneness. Remember not to overcook the fish, because if you do, it becomes dry. Serve with the tomato peach salsa.


This recipe for Salmon with Tomato Peach Salsa was featured on Stone Gable's On the Menu Monday.


If you love peaches as much as we do and want to take advantage of them while they’re available, you’ll also like my version of Cooking Light’s Prosciutto & Peach Salad. As an added bonus, there’s no cooking involved in this recipe.

Like many of you, my new year’s resolutions include eating light and eating less. Combined with a rigorous exercise program, I’m hoping to shed a few pounds that always seen to find their way into my life around holiday time.

I have fallen head over heels in love with fruit salsas since I first tasted them at Little Moir’s Food Shack in Jupiter, Florida. You might remember I prepared the Food Shack’s version of fruit salsa and served it with salmon a while back.  Their salsa is sweet, spicy and hot all at the same time and it just bursts in your mouth with flavor. I love fruit salsas so much that I serve them with an endless number of things – fish, shrimp, chicken, pork – you name it. The fruit combinations are endless and you can make the salsas spicy or mild.

When I spotted this recipe for tomatillo red onion salsa served over roasted salmon in Cooking Light’s 5 Ingredients 15 Minutes book, I was drawn right away to the colorful green tomatillos and red onion salsa that was spooned over the pretty pink salmon. The main flavor in the salsa was tomatillos, those little green things with the papery skin that look like tomatoes but are really members of the gooseberry family. They have a tart, subtle apple flavor. I decided to give the salsa a tropical twist by substituting a little pineapple for some of the tomatillos.  If you want to make the salsa with just tomatillos, omit the pineapple and use three tomatillos instead of two. This is a beautiful dish, worthy of company.


Don’t leave out the sweet smoked Spanish paprika, also called pimenton de la Vera. It gives the fish a very subtle, smoked flavor. Smoked paprika used to be difficult to find, but I’ve seen it from McCormick in my local supermarket. However, if you can find the Spanish one in the red tin (La Chinta, available from La Tienda and gourmet shops), I think it is superior. Its artisan quality is generally accepted as the best. It’s grown, smoked and milled in the micro-climate of La Vera, not far from where Columbus presented the first plants to Ferdinand and Isabella. How cool is that?

Broiled salmon with tropical pineapple and tomatillo salsa
Adapted from Cooking Light 5 Ingredients 15 Minutes

4 (6 ounce) wild caught salmon filets (about an inch thick)
1 tablespoon grape seed oil, or other neutral oil, such as canola
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1½ teaspoons sweet Spanish smoked paprika (pimenton)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
Tropical pineapple and tomatillo sauce (recipe below)
Lemon wedges for garnish

Preheat the oven to broil. Arrange the pieces of fish in one layer, skin side down, on an unheated broiler tray or large sheet pan lined with heavy duty foil for easier clean-up. Smear the fish with the canola and season with cumin, smoked paprika, and salt and pepper. Place the fish under the broiler about six to seven inches from the source of heat. Broil about six minutes or just until the pieces are cooked through. It’s not necessary to turn the fish. If the fish begins to brown too much, turn the oven to 400 degrees F and bake for a few minutes until they achieve your desired doneness. Remember not to overcook it because if you do, it becomes dry. Serve with tropical salsa and a wedge of fresh lemon. Serves 4.



Tropical pineapple and tomatillo salsa
It may sound strange to use salt and pepper on fruit, but don’t omit this step. It helps bring out the flavor of the fruit. 

1/3 cup chopped tomatillos (2 medium), see instructions below
1/3 cup chopped fresh pineapple
1/3 cup finely chopped red onion
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
Kosher or sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Remove the papery skin from the tomatillos, wash them well and pat them dry before chopping. Combine all of the ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with broiled salmon. Yield 4 servings. This salsa would also be excellent with grilled chicken or pork.