bbq salmon bowls
with mango avocado salsa
BBQ Salmon Bowls with Mango Avocado Salsa! An easy and impressive dinner with yummy smoky-sweet flavor and a zip of zesty homemade salsa to take it over the top. The BEST weeknight dinner.
ingredients
Salmon
1–2 lbs. fresh salmon
1 tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons smoked paprika
2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon chili powder. Joann's notes: our chili powder is of the sweeter variant, and our salmon ended up very very sweet, so if yours is the same, replace it with chipotle chili powder!
½ teaspoon kosher salt (more for a larger filet)
2 tablespoons olive oil
Mango Avocado Salsa
2 mangoes
diced 1 avocado
1 teaspoon honey
2 tablespoons lime juice + 1 teaspoon lime zest salt to taste. Joann's notes: if using real lime, for the scale of 2 mangos and 1 avo, you'll want 75% of that lime's juice
For serving
1 ½ cups of rice. Joann's notes: 1 cup of rice (ratio of 1:1 water). Upsize if hungry but 1 cup is good for around 70% hungry!
steps
Mango salsa: Toss all ingredients in a bowl to combine. Taste, adjust, try not to eat the whole bowl.
Cook your rice: Get your rice cooking according to package directions.
Get the oven ready: Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil. Alternatively, you can set it to 500 degrees on the broil setting for medium rare with a yummy crispy top – the risk here is that you have to watch closely so it doesn’t burn the sugar. If taking this route, make sure one of the oven racks is close-ish to the top, about 6 inches or so.
Salmon: Mix the spices and the olive oil to make a paste. Place the salmon skin side down on the baking sheet. Rub the paste liberally over the top part of the salmon. Bake for 6-12 minutes depending on the thickness of your salmon and your desired doneness. See notes if you’re not sure.
Bowl it up: Pile up some rice, pull off some of salmon, and spoon that mango avocado salsa over the whole thing. Add a lime squeezer for good measure. IT’S SO GOOD.
Notes
How to tell when the salmon is done: “Salmon will change from translucent (red or raw) to opaque (pink) as it cooks. After 6-8 minutes of cooking, check for doneness, by taking a sharp knife to peek into the thickest part. If the meat is beginning to flake, but still has a little translucency in the middle, it is done.” (Thank you Heidi!) I know this is the proper way to cook salmon, but I am also slightly paranoid about food safety, so the salmon we cook at home has almost no translucency when done. If the rare center freaks you out, don’t worry – it’s still very, very delicious when cooked all the way through (just don’t let it get WAY overcooked or it will be dry and sad).
How much salmon to use: I don’t really care for leftover salmon, so I usually opt for a smaller filet – something like 1 – 1/2 lbs. so that we can eat it once or twice without a lot of leftovers. A 2 lb. filet will serve 4-6 people easily, especially when combined with rice, mango avocado salsa, etc.
Do you use fresh or frozen mangoes: Fresh is the most delicious. But frozen chunks can also work! Just let them thaw out on the counter and then give them a little extra knife treatment so they’re good for salsa-size.
What else does this salmon go with: You can also add any other vegetables you like to build out your bowls (totally optional). I used some of my leftover Korean BBQ style cauliflower in there and it was SO yummy. I’ve also added roasted vegetables like mushrooms and asparagus.
