Simple Lime & Paprika Salmon

My husband is away for a time doing some Navy training, so that left me some time with my almost-one-year-old sidekick to do some traveling. A few weeks back I went up to Idaho to visit my sister Natalie. My mom was there visiting, and Natalie's mother-in-law was coming over for dinner. My mom was making pineapple shrimp salad (delicious!) and then we remembered last minute that there was a salmon filet that needed to be used up that night.

All three of us use the famous family marinade for salmon about 98% of the time, which requires actual time to marinade. Nat and I just looked at each other, and both said something along the lines of "don't people usually slather a bunch of mayo on their salmon and call it good?". As we ran around the kitchen trying to find a way to make a delicious, simple, quick salmon, this recipe was born. Boy, the outcome was DELICIOUS. My little goober gobbled it up, and we were all wishing there was more salmon by the end of the dinner.

Let me just tell you again. This is SUPER easy and quick. No real preparation ahead, and it's perfect if you have some fish in the freezer if you need to use it up (I usually keep at least one fillet of fish in the freezer at all times for things like this).



To start off you will need some pretty simple ingredients, ones you probably have floating around your house: a 1-pound salmon filet, mayonnaise (we are a big fan of mayo with olive oil), paprika, fresh lime juice, garlic salt, pepper and a seasoning salt. I have used both Lawry's seasoning salt and Old Bay seasoning. I preferred the Old Bay seasoning, but they were both great, so use what you have on hand!

Run your salmon over cold water and pat it dry. Sprinkle garlic salt, about a 1/2 teaspoon, and black pepper of the salmon and give it a good rub.

Spread 1 tablespoon of your favorite mayonnaise over the salmon, making sure it is spread in an eve, think layer. Top the salmon with 1 teaspoon paprika, and 1/2 teaspoon of Old Bay seasoning. Lastly squeeze a half fresh lime over the top. If you don't have a fresh lime, it'll be about 1/2 tablespoon of bottled lime juice.

Grill your salmon for about 10 minutes until  light pink and flaky. If you don't have a grill you can also bake in the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes (it entirely depends on how thick your salmon is cut, so check on it frequently).

Make sure you always cook your fish on foil so the skin sticks to the foil. There isn't anything I dislike more than having to scrape with skin of my fish and having a pile of fish skin on my plate at the end of dinner. Eeew.

Simple Lime and Paprika Salmon
Recipe by The Everyday Veggies
Serves 3-4

1 pound salmon fillet
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt (Old Bay or Lawry's)
1/2 lime, squeezed (around 1/2 tablespoon lime juice)

Rinse your salmon and pat dry. Rub garlic salt and pepper into salmon and then spread the mayonnaise evenly over the salmon. Top the mayonnaise with the paprika, seasoning salt, and the lime juice.

Place the salmon, skin side down on foil and place on grill for 10-15 minutes. Fish is done when light pink and flaky. This can also be cooked in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.

-Claire