the Older Bolder Life Friday Feast 13 July: Lemony Spiced Salmon Kabobs

Years ago, living and working in the Salt Lake City valley, we befriended a couple who, among a bevy of interesting quirks, were partners with another guy in a small Alaskan fishing business.

This ‘other guy’ had a boat and spent a fair part of every summer up there and fished (commercially); he sold some of his take to the big canneries, but some, he packed up on ice in coolers, threw on a direct Delta flight, and were then sold by our friends out of their garage, most often 24 hours or less out of the water. And at prices far, far less than local fish markets (there weren’t multiple hands clamoring to take a cut out of the pie).

The halibut was amazing, but the salmon was simply stunning.

I’ll share in the next few weeks our all time favorite fresh salmon marinade (thanks, Judy!), but these kabobs are also one of our favorites (we just did a batch last week).

The kabobs are delicious and Instagram worthy as written, even more so with some thinly sliced vegetables threaded on the skewers, but a tip from a chef friend now has us grilling separate vegetable skewers as cook times differ a bit…

For the spice mix
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 1 T dried)
2 tsp white sesame seeds
1.5 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp good smoked paprika
1 tsp good pink or kosher salt
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

2 lemons, halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced
2 tbsp EVOO or avocado oil

1 and 1/2 pounds skinless salmon fillet, cut into approx. 1.5 inch pieces

Optional: Thinly sliced baby zucchini, summer squash, red bell pepper squares, etc

For the spice mix, we find it easier to dump all the spice mix ingredients into a mini-processor and whirl them together.

Onto pairs of skewers thread salmon and half-slices of lemon (alternating of course); if you choose to throw some vegetables into the mix, either artfully thread them onto the skewers with the lemon and salmon, or construct several vegetable only skewers.

Brush each skewer with the oil, dust generously with the spice mix, and grill, rotating every 1-2 minutes, until the fish is done to your liking.

Enjoy.