Grilled Salmon with Spiced Mayo (plus secret to moist fish)

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This Grilled Salmon with Spiced Mayo is an easy dinner recipe (5 ingredients, just over 20 minutes)…great for busy weeknights and perfect for company as well! Plus I’m sharing the secret to keeping your fish moist! 

Grilled Salmon with Spiced Mayo (and the secret to moist fish)

I don’t what it is about summer, but once the warmer weather rolls around, I crave seafood. 

A couple summers ago we went to Alaska for a vacation. It was one of the most amazing vacations I have ever taken in my life, and I desperately want to go back. I fell in love with salmon while we were there. I could not stop eating it. 

Since then, I’ve been cooking it a lot. We especially love grilled salmon!

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Two, actually. 

One is a grilling tip. Have you ever used a cedar plank for grilling? I absolutely love the slightly smoky flavor it gives the fish.  But did you realize that grilling your fish on top of a cedar plank also helps keeps your fish moist? It’s because you aren’t grilling over a direct flame!  The cedar planks I used came from Chayder Grilling Company. If you want to try them out, you can order them right off their website online. They also have these really cool cedar grilling wraps. I used those in the oven, and my fish came out great there too. I’m not telling you this because there is anything in this for me. They sent me some planks and cedar wraps a while back to try out, and I just really like cooking with them. 

Now for secret #2. I’ll give you a little hint. It’s what’s in the sauce…specifically mayonnaise! If you just want to keep it simple, a light coating of mayonnaise will keep your fish moist. But the sauce I am sharing with you today not only keeps your salmon moist, but also doubles as a source of wonderful flavor.  

I combined lemon, mayonnaise, ginger paste from Gourmet Garden, and lightly dried cilantro, also from Gourmet Garden. Gourmet Garden was a sponsor at a blog event I attended, and they sent everyone there a sampling of their products afterwards. I was so excited to try out their ginger paste, because while I love the taste of fresh ginger, I really do not like grating it. It’s tedious, and it takes forever. Using ginger paste makes cooking with ginger so much easier.  I usually have fresh cilantro in the house, because I cook with it all the time, but I wanted to try out Gourmet Garden’s lightly dried herbs. What I like about them is that they refresh when cooking with them, and they’re much closer to the taste and texture of fresh herbs than dried. They are dried just enough to last a month in the refrigerator. So if you are one of those people who is constantly finding that your fresh herbs go bad in the refrigerator because you didn’t use them quick enough, you are going to LOVE this option. Again, there were no strings attached here…I am only sharing this with you because my family really enjoyed this recipe! 

Before grilling, you’re going to want to soak your cedar plank for a good two hours. Put a coffee mug or a bowl on it to weight it down in the water.

To grill your salmon, heat your grill to medium high heat. Once your grill is ready to go, place your salmon fillets flesh side down on the pre-soaked cedar plank. Grill them for 6-8 minutes like that, with the lid of your grill down, then flip it so that the skin is on the bottom. Slather the mayonnaise mixture on top of each fillet. Again, put the lid of the grill back down. Cook another 6-8 minutes, or until the fish starts to flake easily with a fork.

That’s all there is to it. This grilled salmon with its spiced mayo sauce is easy enough for a weeknight dinner recipe, and you certainly could serve it at a dinner party as well. Serve as is, or on a bed of rice. I personally like the rice because I can soak up some of the yummy sauce with it! 

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Grilled Salmon with Spiced Mayo

Yield: 6-8

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 16 minutes

Total Time: 21 minutes

This Grilled Salmon with Spiced Mayo is an easy dinner recipe (5 ingredients, just over 20 minutes)...great for busy weeknights and perfect for company as well! Plus I'm sharing the secret to keeping your fish moist!

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Ingredients

• 6-8 salmon fillets
• 2 cedar planks, soaked in water for at least 2 hours prior to grilling (I was able to fit 4 fillets on each plank)

Spiced Mayo

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• juice and zest from one lemon
• 1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden ginger paste
• 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro

Instructions

Spiced Mayo

2. Mix mayonnaise, zest and juice from one lemon, 1 tablespoon Gourmet Garden Ginger paste and 1 tablespoon chopped cilantro. Set aside.

Grilling instructions

2. Preheat grill to medium high heat.
3. Place salmon fillets skin flesh side down on cedar plank. Grill for 6-8 minutes, then flip so that the skin is now on the bottom. Keep the lid of your grill down during cooking.
4. Slather mayonnaise mixture on top of each fillet.
5. Cook another 6-8 minutes (with grill lid down) or until the fish starts to flake easily with a fork.

Notes

*I did not count the 2 hours needed to soak the plank (s), because you are literally just placing it in a sink with enough water to cover. Place a coffee cup on top of them to keep them submerged.

Other seafood recipes you may enjoy:

• Easy Lemon Pesto Grilled Shrimp
• Salmon in Zucchini and Corn Cream Sauce
• Spicy Muffin Tin Crab Cakes with Old Bay Remoulade
• Seafood Pasta 
• Creamy Tomato Seafood Bisque