Salmon with Chutney and Pineapple

True to my word, I cooked last night with fresh pineapple. I usually try to make salmon one night a week, most often early in the week when we’re trying to recover from a weekend of eating out, eating too much, and/or eating junk (most weekends involve all three). I tried to do “Salmon Sundays” (I do love alliteration) for a while, but weekends get so busy, especially this time of year. So tonight was Salmon Monday… which doesn’t have nearly the same ring to it. Normally I keep salmon pretty simple – usually under the broiler with lemon pepper seasoning. But last night I mixed things up and brought the flavor flave to the table. Here’s what I did:

First I lightly brushed the salmon with olive oil. I used a bit of cooking spray on the pan, but not a lot – I find that if I go light on the spray, the skin will stick to it and I’ll be able to pretty cleanly lift the salmon from the skin when done cooking (this does, however, make for a messy cleanup; I often choose these nights to take Matt up on his generous and mostly sincere nightly offer to do the dishes). Sometimes I get lazy and have the fish counter guy take off the skin, but I do find that cooking with the skin imparts so much more flavor.

Then I dusted with cajun seasoning and popped it in the oven for 10 minutes or so. I wanted to give the salmon a chance to really soak in the cajun flavor before topping it with other taste sensations. After parcooking with the cajun, I added a light coating of a mango papaya chutney, then just dropped on some fresh pineapple chunks.

Meanwhile, I sauteed some stir fry style veggies with olive oil, pineapple chunks, a bit of pineapple juice, and a teaspoon or so of the chutney. I like it when all my flavors connect and enhance each other. I also boiled some brown rice.

After cooking for about 20 more minutes (this was a pretty thick piece of fish) at 400 degrees, the salmon was ready. It turned out pretty good – the chutney had a nice kick to it, and the pineapple was really fresh and fruity. As usual, I made too much food. It’s hard cooking for two, but I still always end up loading up the plates with larger portions than are necessary. But at least this was a really healthy meal to overeat!