Herb grilled Wild King salmon with broccoli salad
Herb Grilled Wild King Salmon
Yield: 4 servings · Active: 15 min · Total: 35 min · Year-round · Best eaten: lunch or an early dinner outside
King is the richest wild salmon, buttery and thick, so it's a little more forgiving than sockeye or coho. Still, stay close to the grill for these ten minutes and it'll reward you. The whole trick: high heat, a short cook, and herbs added late so they perfume rather than scorch.
4 wild king salmon fillets (also called chinook), 6 ounces each, skin on
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped
2 teaspoons fresh tarragon, chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 lemon, halved
Method. Pull the fish from the fridge 20 minutes ahead. Cold fish seizes and curls up on the grill.
Mix the herbs, garlic, and 2 tablespoons of the oil into a loose paste and set it aside. Don't put it on the fish yet.
Clean your grill grates well, wipe them with an oiled paper towel, and heat the grill to around 450°F. Salt and pepper the fillets, rub them with the last tablespoon of oil, and lay them skin-down on the grates. Then leave them alone for 5 to 6 minutes. You'll know it's time to flip when the skin releases without argument. If it sticks, give it another minute. King's fat can drip and cause flare-ups, so if the flames jump, slide the fillets to a cooler part of the grill for a minute. Flip, cook 3 to 4 minutes more, and pull at 120°F for a rosy center (king's extra fat keeps it juicy up to 125°F if you like it a touch more done). Past 135°F, even king turns dry, and there's no coming back from it, so an instant-read thermometer is your best friend here.
Take the fish off the heat and spoon the herb paste over it while it's still hot. Squeeze the lemon over the top and let it rest 3 minutes. For extra flavor, toss the lemon halves cut-side down on the grill for the last few minutes of cooking before you squeeze them.
Variations. Cook it skin-down on a cedar plank (soaked in water for at least an hour) at 350°F for a slower, smokier version; it takes about 20 to 25 minutes. Or skip the grill: a 275°F oven for about 25 minutes gives you that silky, barely-set texture. Add the herbs after, same as on the grill.
Pairs Well With. Mediterranean Broccoli Salad, it's the pairing this fish was waiting for.
Nourishment Notes. King carries the most omega-3s of any wild Pacific salmon. The omega-3s in wild salmon sit in the fillet as DHA, and DHA is the fat your retinas and neurons are built from. Your body uses it as building material, not fuel. Wild fish also carries astaxanthin, the pigment that gives king its deep orange color, and astaxanthin is one of the few antioxidants that makes its way into the mitochondria. Even better, eat your salmon outside in daylight with your eyes open to the world around you. Light and DHA work as a team in your retinas, so that pairing is no accident.
Mediterranean Broccoli Salad
Yield: 6 servings · Active: 20 min · Total: 1 hr 20 min (overnight is even better) · Year-round · Best eaten: lunch, picnics, or make-ahead dinners
The best-designed salad I make. Raw broccoli, artichoke hearts, sundried tomato, and enough acid to make it all read bright rather than heavy. It's a make-ahead dream, too, because it gets better as it sits.
6 cups broccoli florets, cut into small bite-size pieces
1 1/2 cups artichoke hearts, quartered (packed in water or olive oil)
3/4 cup sundried tomatoes packed in olive oil, sliced (no added sugar)
1/2 red onion, shaved thin
1/2 cup House Mayo
3 tablespoons raw red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 garlic cloves, grated
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Method. Soak the shaved onion in ice water for 10 minutes to mellow its bite, then drain well and pat dry.
Meanwhile, whisk the mayo, vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper into a dressing loose enough to pour. Fold everything together and let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour. Raw broccoli needs that hour to soften at the edges and soak up the dressing. Overnight is even better, which makes this perfect for meal prep. It keeps well in the fridge for about 3 days.
Nourishment Notes. Raw broccoli keeps its myrosinase enzyme intact, and myrosinase is what converts glucoraphanin into sulforaphane once you chew. Cook broccoli hard and you destroy the enzyme and lose most of the conversion. That makes this the version that actually delivers.
— Anna aka Food Marshall