Chili Lime Honey Grilled Salmon with Asparagus

Grilled salmon, veggies, and onions, and a sweet chili lime sauce come together in a mouth-watering dish that will have you going back for seconds.  This is what Sam and I had for lunch today, and he deemed it “fantastic”!  Unlucky for Steve, he’s on the road and could not join us.  Lucky for me, the result is I have leftovers for dinner.  Sorry, honey…

Gosh, I’m thinking about dinner already.  That could be a problem since I just ate.

Focus on writing the post, not eating the post…

Sheet pan cooking is in!  What’s more convenient than throwing everything you are making for dinner onto a sheet pan for the oven, pulling it out fully cooked, and taking it straight to the table?  Not much, let me tell you.  Other than perhaps the fact that this meal goes from raw ingredients to amazing grilled scrumptious-ness in thirty minutes or less.  Or that it is not only delicious but healthy as well.  Oh, and that it is almost too pretty to eat.   Sorry…one more…that it makes your house smell amazing!

Ok.  I’ll stop for now.  But I’m sure I’ll pick this theme up again before I’m done today.

let’s see what goes into making this chili lime honey grilled salmon with asparagus

There are a lot of chili lime salmon recipes out there, and frankly, many of them look pretty good.  I first made this one both because the sauce components appealed to me and because of the ease of cooking it in a sheet pan.  But after making it the first time, I had to change it just a bit. So, today’s post is based on a recipe published by Cafe Delites, with a few adaptations of my own, including adding the asparagus and playing with the sauce components.

The peppers and onions are very sweet when grilled, and pair well with the tanginess of the chili lime sauce.  But I felt there was a need for a flavor between the sweet and tangy, and I think that the unique, “green” and distinct flavor of asparagus completed the dish.  And the beautiful part was that they could all still cook and be done at the same time!

let’s look at how to prepare this chili lime honey grilled salmon with asparagus

Frankly, it takes longer to prep the meal than it does to actually cook it.  And the prep does not take long at all.

Start by combining the ingredients for the chili, lime, honey sauce.  That way it can sit for a bit, intensifying in flavor, while you prep and chop your veggies.

Then, snap off your asparagus ends and chop your peppers and onions.

Boy, is that quick and easy or what?

It’s important to lay everything out in as much of a single layer as possible.  That way all the components will grill evenly and develop some nice char marks, as opposed to boiling up on top of each other and looking soggy.  That’s why you need two pans.

Use a spoon to drizzle the sauce over the ingredients; about 1/3 over the salmon and peppers, and 1/3 over the asparagus and onions.  Reserve the last third to drizzle at the table.  It adds that little bit of extra fresh zing.

Then roll your sleeves up and use your hands to toss the veggies around to get them fully coated in the sauce.  It’s the best way to make sure they all get good and coated.

Then into the oven they go.

And about 10 minutes later you have joy, beauty, and aroma therapy in two sheet pans.

Tell me this isn’t enticing!  I’m thinking about those leftovers again.  Focus, focus…

Quick tip.  I broil everything for 8 minutes on the center rack, then finish the last two minutes on the top rack.  It’s really going to vary by oven, so you need to watch it.  The sauce will keep most everything moist and beautiful, but grilled salmon is a beautifully delicate thing.  Don’t turn it into “over-grilled salmon”.  Those last two minutes serve to add the beautiful char marks that contribute significantly to the flavor.

Transfer to a serving platter…

Or plate straight from the pans.

Drizzle some fresh sauce over the fish, if you like.  We like.  We drizzled.

Gosh, I love this dish…  I hope you enjoy it too.

Chili Lime Honey Grilled Salmon with Asparagus

Lori

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Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 25 mins

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

• 3/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon lime zest
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1/3 cup parsley chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves pressed
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes or to taste
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 3/4 teaspoon salt or to taste
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 4 salmon portions without skin
• 1 each red orange, and yellow peppers, without seeds and cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1/2 large onion cut into 1 inch chunks
• 1 bunch fresh asparagus ends removed

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to broil.
• Start by mixing the first 10 ingredients for the sauce and set aside.
• Then chop the onions and peppers.
• Next, place the peppers and salmon on one sheet pan and drizzle with 1/3 of the sauce
• Place the asparagus and onions on a second sheet pan, drizzle with 1/3 of the sauce.
• Toss the vegetables in both pans by hand to coat well with sauce.
• Start in center rack of oven and broil for 8 minutes.
• Then move to top rack and broil for 10 minutes or until the salmon is slightly caramelized and the veggies have some char marks.
• Remove from the oven and serve with the remaining sauce, if desired.