Seared Salmon with Mango-Mint Salsa

Who thought mango and mint would be so good and refreshing on top of salmon? Well, a good family friend of ours made a similar recipe for us...and it opened up my eyes to this beautiful combination.

This seriously took about 15 minutes to make, and the end result tastes restaurant-quality. This is an American Test Kitchen recipe, and I didn't change a thing. My one tip for this is, make sure you get a really crisp sear on the salmon - it pares well with the salsa. Also, you can halve this recipe if you are cooking for 2 people. One more thing...don't be afraid of the jalepeno pepper! It doesn't make it hot because the mint and lime balance it out.


Seared Salmon with Mango-Mint Salsa
2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2" pieces
1 jalepeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and minced (wash hands immediately! don't rub eyes!)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons juice from 2 limes
salt & pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
4 salmon filets (each 6-8 ounces and 1 1/4" thick, you can keep the skin on the one side, or take it off)

Directions
1. Toss mangoes, jalepenos, mint, lime juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and 3 tbsp oil in large bowl. Let sit at room temperature 15 minutes.
2. Pat salmon dry with paper towel and season with salt and pepper. Heat remaining oil in large nonstick pan or skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Cook salmon until well browned and cook until the salmon flakes, 3-5 minutes per side.
3. Top with mango mixture and serve.

Note: If you keep the skin on the fish while cooking, you can slide it off when eating. I personally prefer not eating the skin!