The Kitchen Tourists are Jerks for This Salmon Salad!

Muffin Goddess's Note:

You've had a long morning of snorkeling, and you're craving some jerk (no, NOT the hirsute one in the Speedo on the chaise lounge next to yours), but you don't want a heavy meal that might cause belly pooch over your bikini bottom. Well, The Kitchen Tourists have just the thing for you: fiery hot jerk salmon, resting on a bed of fresh crisp tossed salad with an island twist, all topped with a sweet and tangy tropical vinaigrette. There, now you're satisfied, and you can still rock that hot little outfit you picked out for the evening waterside festivities. Team contributions that made this recipe what it is are as follows: Captain evelyn/athens = warm allspice and nutmeg, Ed&Theresa = fresh salmon, fluffernutter = kicky ginger, MA HIKER = spicy hot peppers, Mandy from Oz = crisp cilantro, Laffer = cooling papaya, ms.susan = fire-taming coconut milk, TansGram = filling beans, Tisme = zingy lime, tunasushi = crunchy cashews, Muffin Goddess = sweet mango Life is good, mon! Enjoy! (P.S. special thanks to Team Captain evelyn/athens!) NOTE: as noted by a reviewer (and myself, actually, after the fact), the dressing recipe makes way more than you'll need for this salad. The dressing is good on just about any kind of salad (I know, because I went through A LOT of salad trying to use up my batch of dressing lol), but if you don't eat salads very often, you may want to half or quarter the dressing part when you make this. :)

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs 10 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

WET JERK SEASONING

• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• ½ cup minced green onion (approx. 3 onions)
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1 teaspoon ground allspice
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 jalapeno peppers or 2 scotch bonnet peppers , chopped
• 1 ½ teaspoons peanut oil
• 1 lb salmon fillet (4 pieces)

TROPICAL VINAIGRETTE

• 1 mango , peeled and chopped
• 1 lime, juice and zest of
• 3 tablespoons light coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon fresh cilantro
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1⁄3; cup seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon honey mustard
• 1 cup extra virgin olive oil
• salt , to taste
• fresh ground pepper , to taste

ISLAND SALAD

• 1 (10 ounce) bag chopped romaine lettuce hearts
• ½ cup shredded carrot
• ½ large red bell pepper , seeded and coarsely chopped
• ¾ cup papaya , peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 medium cucumber , peeled and coarsely chopped
• ½ cup dominican red beans (can substitute red kidney beans)
• ½ cup halved cashews

Directions:

1. FOR JERK SALMON:.
2. Combine all wet jerk seasoning ingredients (garlic through peanut oil) in the bowl of a food processor. Process until mixture turns into a paste.
3. Rub jerk paste onto all sides of the salmon fillets. Allow rubbed salmon to stand in refrigerator for 1 hour (at least 30 minutes if you are short on time). Wash the food processor bowl and set aside to use for the vinaigrette.
4. Once the salmon is ready to cook, plug in your Foreman grill and set it to 300 degrees F. When the grill is heated to temperature, lightly spray the grill plates with nonstick cooking spray. Place the salmon fillets on the grill, close the lid, and set timer for 8 minutes. Once salmon is cooked, remove from the grill.
5. FOR TROPICAL VINAIGRETTE:.
6. While salmon is marinating, combine first seven ingredients for the Tropical Vinaigrette (mango through honey mustard) in bowl of the food processor. While processor is running, drizzle in olive oil until fully incorporated. Stop processor and add salt and pepper to taste.
7. FOR ISLAND SALAD:.
8. Toss all salad ingredients except for cashews together.
9. FINAL ASSEMBLY:.
10. Divide tossed salad into 4 bowls. Sprinkle cashews over each bowl. Pour desired amount of vinaigrette over each salad, then top with a piece of cooked salmon. If desired, drizzle more dressing over the salmon, or cut salmon into chunks and toss it into the salad. Serve immediately.

Reviews

[Pletcha]

Amazing salad!! I added half the oil to the dressing and was going to add the rest, but it seemed like to much so I omitted it and am glad I did. Other then that followed recipe to the t and loved it. A new favorite. Thanks for sharing!!

[Cynna]

I'm always on the prowl for new and interesting ways to enjoy salmon and this one really took the cake. The vinaigrette was the perfect balance between fruity acidic and savory fats with flavor. A huge compliment to the salad. The colors were beautiful and the flavor of the fish was phenominal. I will be making this many times, which is a huge compliment coming from me because I'm NOT a jerk fan. Great job, Kitchen Tourists!

[Rita~]

JUST LOVED every ingredient in this colorful, bright, light healthy balanced meal! I did add fresh lime juice to the jerk seasoning. I did use 1/2 a head of romaine not the hearts. More nutrients in the outer leaves. Grilled the salmon on a very well heated then oiled outdoor grill. Grilled for 3 minutes per side of my 1 pound piece of salmon fillet. As for the dressing this makes way to much so the fat count would not be calculated right. I used 1/4 of the dressing. I kept the cilantro out and just added for myself. I love the herb. I also used red kidney beans that I rinsed very well! I would have given this 4 stars for calculating the dressing off so much. Just think 1/4 cup of oil per person is a bit much. BUT I enjoyed this salad/meal so much you get 10 stars. Just take note not to use all the dressing! Thank you for all the good eats. Your team gave a beautiful perfect balanced choice of ingredients.