If you can’t stand the heat, no problem: non-fiery Grilled Cumin Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa

Cumin, paprika and a mango and tomato salsa give grilled salmon plenty of flavor with no spicy heat. Recipes below.

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]O[/su_dropcap]kay, here’s something just about every cook occasionally faces. Guests’ food restrictions. One of our friends who joined us for Memorial Day dinner can’t eat spicy food; the other simply doesn’t. Now, I know as menu limitations go, this is pretty minimal. But I was in the mood to be cooking, serving and tasting the kinds of big flavors often accompanied by a spicy kick.

We happily cook and eat plenty of non-spicy meals here. We embrace subtle dishes—watercress vichyssoise, coq au Riesling, green tea shortbread cookies… But we’re equally big fans of powerful tastes that pack heat. So when thinking about what to make for our heat-averse guests, I challenged myself to bring the flavor without the fire. Turns out it was easy. Continue reading “If you can’t stand the heat, no problem: non-fiery Grilled Cumin Salmon with Mango Tomato Salsa” →

Heat up flavors, not the kitchen: Spicy Grilled Pork Chops with Mango Cilantro Salsa

Grilled chops flavored with chili powder, cumin and cayenne pepper are topped with mango, cilantro, tomatoes, red onions and jalapeño pepper. Recipe below.

Harry S Truman famously said, “If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.” I took the 33rd president at his word last week, although probably not as he intended. When the temperatures finally (and temporarily) dropped below dangerous levels last Friday, but were still high enough that I didn’t want to heat up the kitchen, I fired up the grill instead. Continue reading “Heat up flavors, not the kitchen: Spicy Grilled Pork Chops with Mango Cilantro Salsa” →

Spicy Salmon with Mango Salsa

Mango salsa with a touch of chili powder brings bold taste to salmon fillets with a hint of cayenne pepper. Recipe below.

The kitchen is open. Again. Sort of. Our new apartment is still filled with boxes and chaos, but we’re making headway. I was on the phone with a friend the other day and said, “It still looks like a bomb went off in here, but a much smaller bomb.” Marion added, “And a bomb that folded a little laundry.” I’ve decided that we either have to move more often, so we don’t acquire too much stuff, or else never move at all.

But I’ve actually managed to cook a few meals now. It feels good to be back in the kitchen—even a kitchen where I can’t find anything yet and the stove and fridge are in completely different places from where my brain says they should be. It’s almost like cooking in a parallel universe—pans and utensils seem reassuringly familiar, but everything is slightly out of whack, slightly off kilter. Cue ominous background music.

The good news is the new stove is vented, a first for me. I’ve been itching to try it out since the first time I saw it; I figured pan seared salmon would be the acid test. I had learned from Helen over at Beyond Salmon that one reason my Salmon Tarragon on a Bed of Vegetables didn’t stink up the place with my unvented stove was that I was using a cooking method involving liquid, steaming it. She also said that pan searing does cause the house to smell, particularly with fatty fish. Enter the salmon.

The mango salsa is a variation on one I’ve been making for a while. Fruit alone—the mango and strawberries, in this case—would be too sweet for the fish. The addition of green onion tops [you could also use chives] gives it a fresh wildness and just a bit of a bite, making it play nicely with something savory—the salmon, for instance, or grilled chops or chicken. You could also use minced shallot, but I think this would cause a definite onion taste to take over, rather than just the lively green flavor of green onions or chives.

Adding the chili powder gives the salsa just the tiniest bit of heat, but it really ramps up the taste. Similarly, the cayenne pepper only adds a hint of heat to the salmon; don’t expect a fiery Thai dish intensity with this meal. Continue reading “Spicy Salmon with Mango Salsa” →