Salmon with lemon and ginger rub and fennel salad
- Published: 16 Jun 21
- Updated: 25 Mar 24
Grill salmon fillets with a delicious lemon and ginger rub in this easy barbecue recipe. Serve with a light and crisp fennel salad and new potatoes for effortless summer eating.
If you’re always on the hunt for new ways to serve salmon, you’ll love our salmon fillet recipes collection.
- Serves 4
- Hands-on time 45 min, plus 4 hours soaking and marinating
Ingredients
- 4 sustainable skin-on salmon fillets
- 1-2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp chopped dill to serve
For the lemon and ginger rub
- Grated zest 2 lemons
- 2 tsp fennel seeds, toasted in a dry frying pan
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 tsp granulated sugar
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- ½ tsp garlic granules
For the fennel salad
- 2 fennel bulbs, hard cores removed, thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp blossom honey or any other mild honey
- 5 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped dill
For the sauce
- 250g crème fraîche
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped dill
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Method
- Put a cedar grilling plank (see Know-How) in cold water, weighing it down with several cans or jars to keep it submerged. Soak for at least 4 hours (see Make Ahead).
- Heat/light the barbecue for direct medium heat (coals evenly distributed over the base of the barbecue).
- For the rub, heat the oven to its lowest setting. Spread the lemon zest on a baking tray and bake on the lowest oven shelf for 10 minutes or until dried out (check regularly to make sure it doesn’t burn), then set aside to cool. Grind the fennel seeds in a pestle and mortar with the salt and peppercorns. Add the dried lemon zest and sugar, then grind again until fine. Mix in the ginger and garlic granules (see Make Ahead).
- Sprinkle the spice rub over the salmon, pressing down so it sticks. Cover and leave in the fridge to marinate for 15 minutes.
- For the fennel salad, mix together all the ingredients in a bowl. Season with salt and black pepper, then chill until ready to serve (see Make Ahead).
- For the sauce, mix all the ingredients together in a small bowl, then cover and chill until ready to serve (see Make Ahead).
- Remove the cedar plank from the water and put it on the grill. Close the lid if you have one and let it heat for 5 minutes. Turn the plank over and brush it with
the olive oil. Put the salmon on top, skin-side down. Close the lid again and cook for 12-15 minutes until the fish flakes easily. - Serve the fillets with the sauce and salad alongside, with dill sprinkled on top to garnish.
- Recipe from June 2021 Issue
Nutrition
- Calories
- 787kcals
- Fat
- 68.7g (24g saturated)
- Protein
- 33.8g
- Carbohydrates
- 6.6g (6.3g sugars)
- Fibre
- 3.7g
- Salt
- 0.9g
delicious. tips
Don’t want to BBQ? Cook the salmon in a ridged griddle pan, using a lid if you have one to boost the smoky flavour.
Soak the cedar plank up to 12 hours before you intend to cook the salmon. The salad and dip can be prepared up to 4 hours ahead and stored in the fridge until ready to serve. The rub mix will keep in an airtight container for up to a week.
Cedar planks impart a slightly smoky flavour to the salmon fillets and are good for more delicate items as they protect them from intense heat. They’re available online and from garden centres and shops that sell barbecue equipment.
Buy ingredients online
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