This grilled mango and lime salmon with creamy fonio is Jilly Lagasse’s lighter, brighter take on the Southern classic shrimp and grits.
Ingredients
- FISH INGREDIENTS
- ¼ cup olive oil
- Zest and juice from 1 large ripened lime
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 salmon fillets (about 1 pound total, cut into 4 fillets)
- MANGO LIME SALSA INGREDIENTS
- 3 tablespoons mango, roughly diced
- 2 tablespoons red bell pepper, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons yellow or orange bell pepper, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons red onion, finely diced
- 2 teaspoons fresh mint, chiffonade
- 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
- CREAMY FONIO INGREDIENTS
- 1 cup fonio*, cooked as directed (1 cup fonio to about 6 cups water)
- Salt and pepper to taste
- *You may have a bit of trouble finding fonio in your regular grocery stores. I was lucky enough to find a 16-ounce bag at a local African market for a very reasonable $9.99. If you don't happen to live in a place where such international markets are available, you can easily buy this super grain online.
Directions
In a large re-sealable plastic bag, combine the olive oil, lime zest and juice, and a bit of salt and pepper.
Add the salmon fillets to the bag and seal completely. Rub the bag a bit to combine all the ingredients and ensure the salmon fillets are covered in the marinade.
Place the bag in a bowl or on a plate and refrigerate for no more than 20 minutes. Any longer and the lime juice will start to cook the fish, which we want to avoid.
While the salmon is marinating, prepare the fonio as directed on the package. Usually the measurement should be about 6 cups of liquid to 1 cup of raw fonio. This will give you a similar texture and consistency to cooked grits or polenta, which is what we want.
Once the fonio is cooked, turn off the heat and cover to keep warm until serving.
Prepare the salsa by combining all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Stir well to mix, cover with cling film and refrigerate until needed and ready to serve.
Warm your grill to medium high and, after marinating in the refrigerator, grill the salmon for about 4 to 6 minutes, depending on thickness and desired doneness. You want the outside to get some nice grill marks and color but the inside to still be pink and slightly raw.
To serve, take the salsa out of the refrigerator and uncover. Scoop a portion of the creamy cooked fonio onto a plate or shallow bowl. Place a grilled salmon fillet on top of the fonio and then a generous spoonful or two of the mango lime salsa. Enjoy straight away.
Nutrition Analysis: 500 cal, 18 g fat, 85 mg chol, 60 mg sodium, 47 g carbs, 0 g fiber, 2 g sugar, 28 g protein.
Jilly Lagasse began cooking as a child when her father, Chef Emeril Lagasse, gave her a set of chef’s whites and let her help in the pastry and dessert department in one of his restaurants. She was diagnosed with celiac disease in 2004 and has written two gluten-free cookbooks with her sister, Jessie Lagasse Swanson, as the duo The Lagasse Girls, www.lagassegirls.com. She splits her time between New Orleans and New York doing special cooking events and gluten-free pop-ups.
