Soy Sauce Ginger Lime Baked Salmon

I enjoy eating lighter and healthier dishes during the summer months. This recipe for baked salmon is delicious and so simple to make for a crowd. The salmon is marinaded in savory soy sauce with hints of ginger and lemon to liven it all up. Serve it up with rice and grilled or sauteed vegetables for a complete meal. If you don’t want to bake the salmon you can also opt to throw these fillets on a grill that has been lightly oiled for 6-8 minutes, flipping half way through.

Baked Salmon with Soy Sauce, Ginger & Lemon

Inactive time: ~2 hours Cooking time: 15 mins Serves: 6-8

Ingredients:

2 – 3 lbs of salmon, fillets

½ C soy sauce

3 Tbs brown sugar

2 Tbs sesame oil

Zest of 1 lemon

Juice of ½ lemon, save the other half for later

Ginger, 1-2 inch knob, peeled, sliced and lightly “smashed”

Sea salt & pepper

Green onions, sliced optional

Toasted sesame seeds, optional

Directions:

In a medium size bowl or measuring cup, whisk together soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil, lemon zest and lemon juice.
Peel and slice the ginger into 4-5 slices. The slices do not have to be thin or uniform. Place the sliced ginger flat on the cutting board, place the blade of the knife flat on top of the ginger. Use the heel of your hand press down on the blade to release the flavors of the ginger. Put “smashed” ginger slices into the marinade. If you want a more intense ginger flavor: grate 1 Tbs or more of fresh ginger instead of using the “smashed” ginger slices.
Taste marinade, if you are using a light soy sauce you may need add additional soy sauce or salt. Add more lemon or ginger if desire. Pour marinade into a 9×13 baking dish.
Place salmon fillets skin side up in the marinade, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours. Turn fillets so that the skins side is down half way through the marinading process.
Preheat oven to 375º
Cover baking sheet with foil, remove fish from marinade and place the fillets with the skin side down on the baking sheet.
Bake for 15 minutes on the middle rack.
Remove from oven and serve. This step is optional: sprinkle with fresh ground black pepper, a tiny pinch of sea salt and use the other ½ of the lemon to squeeze lightly on the remaining fish (I don’t use all of the juice – I just squeeze a few drops on each fillet). You can also top with toasted sesame and sliced green onions if you want to get fancy with it.

♦ If you want to prepare less fish, you can make less marinade or use the unused marinade to flavor a stir fry. That’s what I did with mine. I sauteed mushrooms, onions and spinach using the marinade and paired it with the fish. You can use any vegatable of your choice.

soaking up all of the marinade!

The prep work is super easy. The hard part is waiting patiently for the fish to soak up all the yummy flavors of the marinade. After that it’s quick – 15 minutes and you’re done! Delish and healthy!

Enjoy!