Teriyaki salmon burgers and mangotinis

Tonight's bbq/not cooking inside meal: Teriyaki salmon burgers with rice and veggies.  I was planning on making salmon fillets, but didn't have any left in the freezer - doh!  Thankfully, I had a 6 pack of salmon burger patties from Costco in the freezer instead.

I whipped up a teriyaki sauce from some soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger and garlic.  Some of it, I tossed with a bit of olive oil and large chunks of assorted coloured peppers and zucchini to marinate them before putting them on the bbq.  The rest I used to brush on the salmon burgers when I had them on the bbq.  Yum.  I also made rice in the rice cooker, which is an easy and fast way to make it without heating up the kitchen.  I use a grill basket for my veggies on the bbq, and it really helps make prepping a side dish of veggies easy.

As a drink for the night, I made mangotinis!  Cases of mangos were on sale this week, so I picked one up.  I cut up a ripe mango, and pureed it in my mini-chopper.  While I did that, I grated up some fresh ginger, and tossed it into a small saucepan with a 1/2 cup of water and a 1/8 cup of sugar and brought it to a boil.  Let simmer a couple of minutes, then strain.  Add the mango puree, and about a cup of vodka.  Chill.  After it's chilled, add some lime juice.  When ready to serve, pour some of the mango vodka goodness into a martini glass, to about half way, add some ice, and some club soda (unless you want to knock yourself out after one glass!).  So good and fresh!  It paired really nicely with the salmon too.

Quick Salmon

I love when our local "better" grocery store has salmon on sale. Sure, it's frozen, but it's wild pacific salmon at a great price. My kids love salmon, and it's such a good choice in so many ways.

Here is my simple salmon recipe
1/4 cup or so of melted butter
2 tsp of minced garlic
2 TBSP of lemon juice
a bunch of shakes of dill weed

it's kind of a rough estimate, but mix them all together and pour over salmon. Bake at 425 for about 25 minutes (yes, from frozen). Super tasty.

Island Spiced Salmon

Another flavourful favourite, that is quick and simple...

Mix:
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Place 2 lb salmon fillet in a 9x13 shallow pan, skin-side down, rub in spice mixture, and cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Bake uncovered at 375 F for 20 - 25 minutes.

Mmmm....

(from Light & Tasty magasine, once upon a time!)