Grilled Salmon with Spicy Soy Glaze, Steamed Bok Choy, and Coconut Brown Rice

This dish is one that has become part of my regular rotation. Granted, my rotation is pretty big, so that means we have it a few times a year, not a couple times a month. It's one of my go-to salmon dishes. It's very simple and requires very little chopping and prep, for those who like to avoid that sort of thing.

This week, I served this salmon dish with coconut brown rice and steamed bok choy (below). The bok choy is something that I thought would present well with the dish, especially given the subtle Asian flavors. The coconut brown rice was honestly a way for me to use up a small amount of coconut milk and veggie stock leftover from other recipes. It is not a traditional Thai coconut rice, and it is certainly not a sticky rice. That's still on my list of things to figure out. It is basically a slightly sweeter, creamier brown rice than the simple boiled variety. The flavor is very subtle.

The Spicy Soy Glaze is an epicurious.com recipe, but I make a few modifications. The recipe below is my version.

Spicy Soy Glaze
safflower oil spray
1 shallot, minced
2 Tbsps. low-sodium tamari
2 Tbsps. water
1 tsp. honey
1/2 Tbsp. peach preserves
1 tsp. grated fresh ginger
dash of allspice
dash of hot pepper flakes
zest of one lime, grated
juice of half a lime

In a small saucepan, spray safflower oil to coat the bottom and heat pan over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until starting to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the tamari, water, honey, preserves, ginger, allspice, and hot pepper. Simmer for 5 minutes, until slightly reduced. Remove from heat and add the lime zest and juice.


Grilled salmon
4 4-6 oz. fillet portions of wild salmon
safflower oil spray

In a large cast iron skillet or grill pan (or outdoor grill, if you're so inclined), spray with safflower oil and heat the pan over high heat. Once hot, reduce the heat to medium high. Add the salmon portions, skin side down. Baste the top (flesh side) with the Spicy Soy Glaze. Cook undisturbed for 4-5 minutes (depending on thickness of the fillets). Turn the salmon portions over and remove the skins (should come off easily at this point). Baste the skin side (minus the skin) with the glaze, and cook for another 4-5 minutes. Turn the salmon one more time just to sear the glaze to the other side of the fish, cooking no more than one minute on the skin side. Remove from pan.


Steamed Bok Choy
1 bunch bok choy
salt and pepper, to taste
juice of half a lime

Trim the bottoms off the bok choy (save these for stock). Separate the leaves of the bok choy, leaving each leaf whole. In a medium covered skillet, add enough water to the pan to just coat the bottom. Add the bok choy leaves, season sparingly with salt and pepper and squeeze half a lime over the top. Cover and steam over medium low heat for about 5-7 minutes, or until the green parts have wilted and the white parts are still somewhat firm.


Coconut Brown Rice
1 c. brown rice
1/3 c. light coconut milk
2/3 c. homemade or low-sodium veggie stock
1 c. water
salt, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes, or until all liquid has been absorbed.


Serves 4-5.