Orange Pepper Salmon with Cranberry Sauce
Today I will be serving up a main course alternative to the traditional T-day turkey. This salmon recipe is one of my children's favorites. They just love it!
I like to serve it with my Cranberry Orange Sauce. Pictured here, it is also served with a quick red quinoa pilaf I like to make.
If you are vegan or vegetarian, please stop back soon for my Sage and Shallot Butternut Squash Casserole recipe. This recipe makes a great Thanksgiving day main dish, especially served with the cranberry sauce!
The trick to cooking moist and delicious salmon is NOT to over cook it. One or two minutes too long and your salmon can become dry and tough. Make sure you take it out of the oven before it is cooked all the way through. You should still be able to see pinkness in the center of the fillet. Once it is opaque throughout it is overcooked. Remember, fish continues to cook after you remove it from the oven.
Orange Pepper Salmon
Serve this salmon recipe with cranberry sauce in place of turkey at your Thanksgiving table. Pictured here is wild Alaskan sockeye salmon, but king or coho work well too! Cook for about 10 minutes per inch of thickness. These thin sockeye fillets only take 8 minutes to bake!
It works best to zest the orange before you juice it. I use my microplane fine grater to do this.
- Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.
- Rinse the salmon fillet and pat dry with a paper towel. Cut it into individual fillets. Arrange fillets on a baking sheet or large glass baking dish.
- Drizzle orange juice over them. The sprinkle each with a little grated orange zest. I use my microplane fine grater to do this. Make sure you zest the orange before juicing it! You'll want the zest from the whole orange.
- Then sprinkle with Herbamare (or sea salt) and freshly ground black pepper over each fillet. Finish by drizzling each fillet with a little extra virgin olive oil.
- Bake for about 8 minutes for sockeye, about 10 to 12 minutes for coho, and usually about 20 minutes for king, depending on the thickness.
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About the Author
Alissa Segersten, MS, CN
Alissa Segersten, MS, CN, is the founder of Nourishing Meals®, an online meal-planning membership with over 1,800 nourishing recipes and tools to support dietary change and better health. As a functional nutritionist, professional recipe developer, and author of The Whole Life Nutrition Cookbook, Nourishing Meals, and co-author of The Elimination Diet, she helps people overcome health challenges through food. A mother of five, Alissa understands the importance of creating nutrient-dense meals for the whole family. Rooted in science and deep nourishment, her work makes healthy eating accessible, empowering thousands to transform their well-being through food.Nourishing Meals Newsletter
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Comments
Thanks for your kind words everyone, enjoy the salmon! I will try and get the pilaf recipe up sometime soon! :)
So gorgeous! The flavours are great =D. Salmon is one of my favourite meals, and adding orange sounds perfect!
I love this progressive dinner! We are joining family for Thanksgiving so I don't have to make everything but what I am going to make comes from your recipes. I am sure that when I see the dessert tomorrow I will add that to the list too. I'm going to make the pear pomegranate salad, pumpkin pie, maple roasted yams, butternut squash casserole, your fabulous cranberry sauce (that was delicious!!) Hmmm.... I must be really hungry right now, I can't wait to make this new salad - it looks fabulous! Thanks for your creativity and the virtual progressive dinner! Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!
Deb
Oh this sounds wonderful! I've got salmon in the freezer I should use up, and have *tons* of canned cranberry sauce in the cupboard I picked up on sale. I'd never would have thought to mix salmon with cranberries---what a fun idea.
xoxo steph
Hey Ali, This looks good enough to be dinner! I was wanting to do something different with Salmon tonight, and with a big salad...yum :) This recipe is so festive too! Fall is my favorite time to cook.
Speaking of squash-I still love your wild rice stuffing served up in halved and baked delicata squashes-I think I will make that too.
What a great idea this blog party is! Thx to all the chefs!
Wow this looks absolutely delicious! The quinoa pilaf looks amazing, too. Will you be posting the recipe for that as well?
Thanks for sharing all these amazing recipes :-)
-Tiffany
Good idea!
Ali, the quinoa pilaf looks great. Are you planning on sharing that recipe soon? Sure looking forward to the butternut casserole! Thanks.
This is absolutely gorgeous, Ali! You know how I go mad for salmon. :-) I so wish I had some for lunch. What an impressive dish this would be for Thanksgiving! This salmon and my turkey breast would make a nice pairing. ;-)
The dinner party is neat ... I'm loving seeing what everyone is making!
Shirley
I was just thinking of a special something to have for my birthday dinner on Friday and this looks like just the thing!
What a great combo! Salmon and the cranberry orange sauce. I would never have thought of that but I bet it's great. I'm really enjoying this progressive dinner!