Last week we stopped into the grocery store for a quick produce purchase. Since we didn’t have plans for dinner, we decided to grab some protein while we were there. As we walked past the seafood section we saw that the wild caught salmon were on sale. Bill and I both love salmon. Our favorite way to enjoy salmon is just with a light drizzle of olive oil and hot off the grill. Nothing beats that, well except maybe a juicy, grilled ribeye that was only sprinkled with salt (yes Bill has now turned me into a steak snob).

While we were waiting for our salmon, I spotted another type of salmon which was labeled “Jamaican Jerk Salmon”. This sparked my interest. This salmon was of course farm raised, and I’m sure the Jamaican Jerk rub was full of sugar and canola oil, but this bright red herb colored fish got my foodie brain working. Salmon, along with steak (well the right cut of steak) is one of those prime peaces of protein that is so perfect on it’s own, that you almost don’t want to cover up those delicious flavors with a spice rub, marinade, or dressing. Less is more is our moto with salmon, but for this particular recipe we decided to go out on a limb and “spice” things up with a new recipe.

After a quick google search, I was able to pull together a tasty Jamaican Jerk spice rub that did not include sugar (most jamaican jerk rubs have brown sugar added). The list of spices that go into this rub is quite lengthy, but the overall recipe is pretty simple. Spice, olive oil, lime juice, delicious.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound wild caught salmon, cut into 4-6 oz portions
• 1 teaspoon all spice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• The juice of 1.5 limes

Process:

1. Rinse salmon under water and pat dry with a paper towel.
2. Cut salmon into 4-6 oz portions, and place in a gallon ziplock bag.
3. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together spices, olive oil, and lime juice.
4. Pour marinade over salmon, seal bag, and make sure the salmon is evenly coated in the marinade.
5. Marinate salmon for 2-4 hours before grilling.
6. Preheat grill to 400.
7. Place salmon on a fish plate, skin side down first, and grill for 4 minutes a side, flipping once.

This salmon was surprisingly delicious. We weren’t exactly how the flavoring would turn out, but it had this interesting mix of warm, sweet, tangy flavor, with just a little kick from the cayenne pepper. We really enjoyed this over salmon, but the flavors would be wonderful over chicken, or even beef as well.