I am this excited to share tonight’s dinner of Maple Grilled Salmon and Cauliflower Rice with you! Maybe because it’s the first meal I’ve made on the grill this year. Bring on grilling season!
Super-fresh salmon filets are marinated in a sweet and sour concoction of rice vinegar, maple syrup, and orange juice, then grilled until tender and flaky. Served over grilled asparagus and skinny “rice”. (Wait ’til you get a load of this “rice”!)
But first, the salmon! Start by stirring together a marinade including rice vinegar, maple syrup, and fresh orange juice. That’s it!
Pour the marinade into a plastic bag, then place 4 filets inside and marinate in the refrigerator for 1-3 hours.
As I mentioned, I grilled fresh asparagus to place underneath the salmon, so at the same time I started the salmon marinade, I also prepped the asparagus.
My Mom did this the other day, and I thought it was so smart: trim a bunch of fresh asparagus, place the stalks in a plastic bag or container, then season with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Do this at the same time as the salmon, and the asparagus will be all ready to go when the salmon is. Perfect!
When the salmon is done marinating, get your grill screaming hot. Pre-heat two burners on high then, when you’re ready to grill, turn the heat down to medium-high.
Drain the salmon marinade into a small saucepan, and boil until it reduces by half. (I know, I’m already shaming myself for this saucepan’s condition.)
When the marinade is ready, place the salmon on the grill over one burner, and the asparagus over another.
Grill the salmon for 3-4 minutes on the first side, brushing with the reduced marinade every so often. When the “tail” end of the filet is almost opaque, flip ‘er on over.
Some people leave the salmon skin on, but I prefer to peel it right off with tongs.
While the salmon finishes cooking on the other side for 3-4 more minutes, roll the asparagus up and down to cook evenly. You really can’t mess these babies up, they’re pretty fool proof.
Serve the sweet, sour & smoky grilled salmon over the asparagus, and a pile of fluffy, sauteed “rice”!
Ahhh, juicy and succulent grilled salmon. There’s nothing like it!
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Maple Grilled Salmon
Description
Maple Grilled Salmon is light and healthy, but doesn't skimp on flavor!
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup rice vinegar
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoons fresh orange juice
- 4-6oz salmon filets
- salt & pepper
Directions
- Combine rice vinegar, maple syrup, and orange juice into a ziplock bag. Add salmon filets and marinate for 1-3 hours.
- Heat grill to high, then pour the marinade into a small saucepan, and reduce by half. Lay the salmon filets on a plate and spray both sides with nonstick spray.
- Place salmon filets on the grill, and grill for 3-4 minutes, or you can see that salmon has cooked halfway through. Brush with reduced marinade every so often. Flip, peel back the grilled skin, and discard. Brush second side with marinade, then grill for 3-4 minutes, or until cooked through. Remove to a plate then season with salt & pepper.
Notes
From MyRecipes.com
This recipe is courtesy of Iowa Girl Eats, http://iowagirleats.com.
The orange juice and maple syrup combine with the rice vinegar to make a tangy, mouthwatering flavor that is totally over the top. It really enhances the flavor of the fresh salmon.
I think I might be most tickled over the Cauliflower Rice piled underneath though.
Last week reader Beth told me she made rice out of cauliflower to serve as a low-carb side dish. I was intrigued enough to give it a whirl, and I’m SO glad I did. This stuff is delish!
All you need is 1 head cauliflower and a food processor fitted with the grating disc, or a box grater.
Here’s a peek at that grating disc.
Cut the core out of the cauliflower, then into small enough pieces to fit into the food processor shoot.
Next, let ‘er rip!
The result is cauliflower that honest to goodness resembles rice!
You can then steam the cauliflower, or do what I did and saute it. YUM. All I did was heat extra virgin olive oil in a large skillet, then saute green onion and minced garlic, until the garlic was golden brown. Next I added a HEAP of the raw cauliflower rice along with salt & pepper.
5-10 minutes later, you’ve got delicious sauteed cauliflower rice! Actually, if I closed my eyes, I might think these were hash browns. SO GOOD!
This was the perfect meal to kick-off grilling season. Healthy, fresh, and fit!
We grilled chicken breasts this weekend to make chicken burgers with Havarti cheese and avocado :)
I have frozen cauliflower I processed like that and wasn’t sure how to cook it, but I will try the method above, thanks!
During the summer, I do EVERYTHING on the grill! We had grilled spinach/artichoke pizza tonight! Yum yum. Love the rice idea, I’ll have to see if I can trick my husband into that!
We will try that rice-looks yummy! I love reading your blog:) Oh,and don’t we all own a pan like that;)
Of course, we’ve all heard of making cauliflower like mashed potatoes… but I never even guessed one could turn it into “rice”! What a great idea… And I heard it here first – at Iowa Girl Eats. ;-) Thank you!
I love reading your blog!! We didn’t waste any time with the amazing weather we have been having and have grilled quite a bit this year–our staples are Bare chicken breasts and asparagus (olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and sea salt..yum!). I don’t have much experience with fish but want to eat more of it–I can’t wait to try this recipe!
I must say that when I first came upon your site I was very excited! My husband and I love to be active and are trying to eat better, but I too have a crazy sweet tooth! I was super excited to find all of the amazing meals that you make! So I’ve made a few this week and they are definitely keepers! I tell my husband that I cannot wait for your next post to see what you’re cooking, so that I can give it a try as well! The first thing that we are going to grill this year will probably be burgers of some sort for ourselves and some of his fellow military members! Love your site!!
I love that “rice” idea! I am going to find a way to get my family to love cauliflower, I will!!
A new gril1! How exciting! I still haven’t ever tried salmon on the grill, but I need to convince my guy to do that for me :-) When I saw the “rice” in the recipe title I had a feeling it might be cauliflower – I’ve tried cauliflower as mashed potatoes and didn’t love it, but this actually looks really great!
Hey, I saw on your workout log that you did one of the Body Rock workouts. Did you invest in all of their equipment (like the bag and the other thingy for lack of a better term?) or do you modify the exercises at all? I have been interested in the Body Rock exercises but not sure I want to buy all of their gadgets other than the interval timer.
No I didn’t buy any of their stuff. I just use free weights whenever she uses the pink bag, the edge of the couch when she does pushups, and use a timer app on my iphone or ipad instead of their timer!
I found this online timer http://www.speedbagforum.com/timer.html Just plug in your round length, rest length, and “stop after”!
You can do the cauliflower thing with mashed potatoes too,! Really yummy, you can do half cauliflower and half potatoes or do all cauliflower for a low carb option! :)
This looks fantastic! Luckily we can grill year ’round here in Australia so I am always looking for new ideas, this one goes to the top of next weeks menu!
I LOVE the skinny rice. I will have to make this! Can’t wait to check out your workout page.
Yum! Here I am… reading the blog… while eating REAL rice… wishing I had some CAULIFLOWER rice!! Such a great idea! :)
I am dying to try that rice, I really want to make it. Looks delicious!
Sounds great! That marinade would be yummy on chicken too, I think.
You are seriously making me crave salmon. And LOVE the rice idea. Truth, I have NO idea how to use my grater on the food processor. I literally stare at it for minutes before deciding I will never figure it out. If I do, I know I’ll be making this rice.
Your “rice” dish is a must try. How great is that?
Kristin, this recipe couldn’t have come at a better time! My husband and I just got our first BBQ grill last night and I’ve been perusing Google Reader all day hoping for some inspiration. This is PERFECT! Not to mention my very first food processor is also arriving this week so I can try the “rice” too!
I discovered your blog a month or two ago and we’ve already made several recipes, including the Thai Fried Quinoa, Green Monster Smoothie, Thai Turkey Brugers, and Buffalo Man ‘n’ Cheese Quinoa (we used BBQ sauce ’cause we didn’t have buffalo sauce on hand). My husband agrees that everything from your blog has turned out delicious!
Thanks for the wonderful content Kristin; keep up the awesome work!
Oops – make that Mac ‘n’ Cheese. Although Man ‘n’ Cheese doesn’t sound too bad either!
Oh perfect! Hope you enjoy! :)
I already grilled this year- asparagus!
Ummmm, MUSt try this rice. MUST.
Yes, I have tried the cake vodka. UV Cake is the bomb! I usually mix it with Sunkist Orange or A&W Rootbeer. Soooo good!
Try it with pineapple juice & a maraschino cherry for a pineapple upside-down cake drink!!
This is my fave! I don’t know many people who don’t love it as soon as they try it :)