Marinated Cucumber-Lime Salmon Recipe

Salmon with cucumber salsa makes for a meal that's not only light, nutritious, and tasty, but also quite easy to put together. Better yet, the salsa does more than provide a pop of green atop the fish — it infuses the fillets with flavor as they cook. "Rice vinegar and honey pair so nicely with crispy and refreshing cucumber, so I thought, 'Why not streamline the cooking process and double the dressing for the cucumbers as a marinade for the salmon?'" recipe developer Deniz Vergara tells us about her inspiration for this dish.

One of many things we like about salmon is that it tastes great both hot and cold, as is the case with this dish. This means leftovers are no problem at all, especially since they can be refrigerated for up to 4 days if stored separately. While the cucumbers' crunchy texture perfectly complements a whole fillet of flaky salmon, you could always serve this versatile dish in a different format. Plate the salmon and cucumber salsa over a bed of lettuce to add one more layer of crispy greens to your meal, or follow Vergara's suggestion and flake up the salmon to enjoy with the salsa, steamed rice, and seaweed "like a deconstructed sushi bowl." 

The dual-purpose dressing and marinade for this dish is made with rice vinegar, a lime (both the juice and zest), honey, salt, garlic, fresh ginger, and olive oil. For the salad itself, you will need a couple of salmon fillets and a cucumber, while cilantro makes for a pretty and fragrant green garnish.

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Line a small sheet pan or oven-proof dish with parchment paper.

In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together rice vinegar, lime zest and juice, honey, ¼ teaspoon salt, garlic, ginger, and olive oil.

Place salmon on the prepared sheet pan. Pour 2 tablespoons of the marinade on top and sprinkle with the remaining ¼ teaspoon sea salt. Allow to marinate for 10 minutes.

Toss diced cucumber and chopped cilantro in the remaining marinade until combined. Set aside.

Bake salmon for 8-10 minutes, or until cooked to your liking.

Optional: Broil salmon for 2-3 minutes for a golden top.

Top salmon with marinated cucumbers and cilantro, and serve immediately.

Unless you go out fishing yourself, most of the "fresh" fish you buy will have been frozen at some point in its afterlife cycle. On commercial fishing boats, salmon is often flash-frozen shortly after being caught, as this locks in as much freshness as possible so it lasts for the trip back to land and then on to the retailer. Even salmon sold as fresh is usually just thawed for this purpose, so in many cases, frozen fish may actually be a better bet.

"As long as you fully defrost the frozen salmon and it is high-quality, it shouldn't make too much of a difference," Vergara says about this particular recipe. The safest way to defrost salmon is to leave it in the refrigerator for 8-12 hours, but if you forget to do so in time, a quicker way is to soak it in cool water. If you choose the latter method, make sure the fish is well sealed in a plastic bag, since the fish will become mushy if it absorbs too much water. You can also bake salmon straight from frozen, but in this case, you'll start the process by cooking it in a covered pan, then taking off the cover so the fish can finish up nice and flaky.

Having leftover cucumber salsa after making this dish is a good thing, as this versatile topping can be used for far more than salmon. Vergara suggests pairing it with shrimp or chicken in salads or bowls, or it could be used as a dip for tortilla chips, crackers, or pita bread triangles — perhaps mixed with plain yogurt to make a quick tzatziki-like dressing. Combined with rice, canned tuna, and nori, this salsa would add the perfect crunch to DIY hand rolls.

If you like, you can also play around with the ingredients in this salsa. Vergara says mixing in diced mango would be "super refreshing," while she also suggests throwing in some avocado chunks for a creamier texture. Chopped red or green onions would give the salsa some pungency, or you could add chopped chiles if you want to spice things up a bit. With those additions, the salsa is ready for piling into fish or shrimp tacos.