Baked Salmon with Pomegranate Glaze & Chili Cucumbers

❄LG,BE’s 12 Days of Christmas❄

🎄Day 9 🎄

Baked salmon is one of the easiest proteins to pull off, especially for a crowd or a dinner party. I usually go for the more common flavours when it comes to salmon like dill, lemon, garlic, dijon mustard or maple syrup… you get the gist. When I browse the grocery aisles these days, I try to locate new ingredients that inspire me and that I have never incorporated before to keep myself challenged in the kitchen. One of those ingredients that I’ve been eyeing for a few months was pomegranate molasses which is typically used in Middle Eastern cuisine.

I also thought it would be interesting to try and create a dish with this ingredient that perhaps could be blended with other flavours that typically aren’t always paired together in the same dish, such as chili oil, rice wine vinegar, and yuzu. Well, I wouldn’t be here posting about it if I didn’t think it was going to work out, so here we are! A fusion of Asian and Middle Eastern ingredients to create a dinner that’s sure to impress your loved ones.

INGREDIENTS

Pomegranate Glaze ( for two portions)

• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 1.5 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 clove of garlic, grated
• 2 tsp honey
• Salt and pepper
• 2 salmon filets

Preheat your oven to 400°F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Place your salmon filets on the tray and season them with salt and pepper. Next, combine all the ingredients for the glaze and use a silicone brush to swipe some of the glaze over top of the filets. Place in the oven and cook for 6 minutes, and brush more glaze over top of the salmon and even using the leftovers collecting on the pan to continue to baste them. Cook the salmon for another 5 minutes (depending on the thickness of the filets) and again, continue to add more of the glaze. I broiled the salmon for another 2 minutes or so (once broiler was ready) to get a bit of a crisp and to help the sugars from the molasses and honey to caramelize on top.

Chili Cucumbers

• 1/2 cucumber, sliced lengthwise and into crescents
• 1-2 tsp of chili oil, add more or less depending on how well you handle spice
• 1 tsp of yuzu ponzu or fresh lime juice
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp of soya sauce
• 1 tsp rice wine vinegar
• sesame seeds toasted

This chili cucumber condiment (kind of?) is inspired by the viral cucumber salad created by an influencer named Logan on TikTok who, fun fact!!, is from Ottawa, ON! Essentially, place all the ingredients in a tupperware and then shake together to mix.

Pomegranate Salad

• 1/2 cup of fresh pomegranate arils
• Chopped cilantro
• Lime zest, and squeeze of fresh lime juice
• Drizzle of olive oil, salt and about a 1tsp of sugar to balance out the flavours

Combine altogether and keep cool in the fridge while salmon is cooking.

Serve with some hot basmati rice for a complete meal and top your salmon with the chili cucumber condiment and fresh salad of pomegranate salad.

Peace and good eats, as always.
-A❄