Spice rubbed salmon

Here is a simple way to prepare summer’s great salmon. The rub is versatile, so you can serve most any side without fear of flavors clashing.

All you need is a good deal on salmon

Mine was frozen from my whole fish experience, but good prices are still available. Around here, wild Coho is $9.99 at Jewel and Meijer and Copper River Sockeye is $11.99 at Caputo’s this week. A pound will feed 3-4 people, depending on appetite, so cut your portions accordingly. Besides that, we have sugar, salt, pepper, oil, spices, and a dry herb. I am using marjoram, paprika, chili powder, nutmeg, celery seed, garlic, and onion, all of which I regularly stock. You could easily substitute one or more of these if you don’t have them all on hand.

There’s almost nothing to the preparation

Mix a ¾ teaspoon kosher salt, teaspoon each of dry marjoram, celery seed, and light brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon onion powder, a ½ teaspoon each of chili powder, paprika (sweet, sharp, half-sharp, all fine), garlic powder, and freshly ground black pepper in a small bowl. I use my fingers to break apart the clumpy brown sugar.

Rub the mixture on the salmon.

Heat a drizzle of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and add the fish, skin side down. We like it medium-rare, which takes about three minutes per side, but adjust for your desired doneness.

Flip the salmon and cook another three (or more) minutes on the other side.

After you flip it, you should easily be able to peel off the skin without losing any fish.

Flip it back on to the side that you removed the skin from just for a second before serving to get some spices from the pan to cling to that side.

We served it with a simple zucchini casserole because my father gave me a 3 lb zucchini to take home from our visit, but this salmon really goes with anything.