Fancy a health kick but can't stand the thought of bland food, well you've come to the right recipe. Salmon is the perfect fish to choose if you want to enjoy big bold flavours whilst watching the calories. This time its cajun style... spicy and smokey its one of my go to recipes when having a bit of a detox.
Below you'll see a recipe for the cajun spice mix... it literally couldn't be easier, just mix them all together and there you have it. If you have to much mix for what you need in this recipe then store it for another time, it works just as well with chicken or even sweet potatoes.
The tricky part of cooking with a dry marinade is it can sometimes burn while you pan fry the fish so I find to get the best flavour with out the bitterness of burnt spices is to start it off in a pan and then let it gently finish cooking in the oven... anyway I'll stop going on and let you read the actual recipe.
Prep time 5 mins
Cooking time 15mins (plus 15mins marinade time)
2 Skin on Salmon fillets 120g each approx
3tbsp olive oil
3tbsp cajun spice mix (see below)
(will make approx 6tbsp of mix, use what you need and store the rest for next time)
3tsp smoked paprika
1tsp garlic powder
1/2tsp onion powder
1tsp cayenne
1tsp dried oregano
1tsp dried thyme
1tsp salt
1tsp ground black pepper
(optional 1/2tsp dried chilli flakes for an extra chilli kick)
Pre heat the oven to 170c.
In a shallow bowl mix 3tbsp of the cajun spice mix with about 1.5tbsp of olive oil until you have a wet rub. Place the salmon fillets in the marinade coating on all sides except the skin and leave for 15 mins to marinate.
In a frying pan heat the remaining olive oil on a medium heat.
Sprinkle a little bit of salt on the skin side of the salmon fillets and then place them in the pan, so that the skin is on the pan.
Allow to cook without moving to much for 4mins.
Quickly seal the salmon for a few seconds on each of the remaining sides and then place skin side up on a roasting tin, pop in the preheated oven for 7mins. Make it 9-10 mins if you have larger salmon fillets.
Remove from the oven, leave to rest for 1 min.
Serve with some delicious zesty rice.
If at any point your salmon begins to colour to much in the oven just pop some foil over the top of it, remember though to be bold we're looking for a dark colour just not burnt.
Squeeze a bit of fresh lime juice over before you eat it, this will lighten the flavour slightly and give a real cajun zing!!
