Quick and tasty, tender baked Macadami Salmon with Pineapple Salsa has a delicious macadamia nut crust, topped with sweet and tangy pineapple salsa!
I have this quirk where I take it very personally when a store or restaurant goes out of business without informing me. I know it’s irrational to expect every business I’m a patron of to call me personally to let me know that they are closing their doors, but it still bothers me – hence the quirk.
A few months ago my husband and I went dinner with my parents. We wanted to go to McGrath’s fish house, a family favorite. In fact it’s really the only place we go when we’re in the mood for good fish (we’ve never been big Red Lobster fans – don’t judge, to each his own!). There aren’t very many McGrath’s restaurants on the map and sadly over the past 5-6 years the few in Utah have been dying off slowly.
Well we headed up the road about 20 minutes to go to the nearest location – one we’ve frequented for years – and I know you already know where this is going but just act shocked for me okay…. THEY WERE CLOSED. I just sat there in the car fighting the urge to both cry and torch the building simultaneously. The quirky anger set in. “How dare they not tell me they were closing!! The nerve….”
They used to serve this really incredibly tasty macadamia crusted fish dish at McGrath’s and since I can’t go there to get it anymore… I made it myself. (so take that!) I’ve been on a homemade salsa kick lately so I topped mine with some sweet and citrus-y pineapple salsa and it was ah-mazing. I even impressed my father in law with this salmon dish. (woah)
If you love salmon and have 30 minutes to make dinner tonight – make this!!!!! It’s the bombdotcom.
Macadamia Salmon with Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
- 4 small salmon fillets - (or 2 large)
- 2 cups macadamia nuts - finely chopped
- 1 cup shredded coconut flakes - (sweetened or unsweetened)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- salt and pepper to taste - (I used ½ teaspoon each)
- 4 tablespoons water
- 2 eggs
Pineapple Salsa
- 1 whole fresh pineapple - diced
- 1 white or red onion - diced
- 1 bunch cilantro - chopped, (just the leaves, discard the stems)
- 1-2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
- juice of 1 lime
- 1 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- First prepare the salmon fillets. Preheat the oven to 400 and lightly grease a baking sheet.
- In a medium bowl stir together chopped macadamias, coconut flakes, garlic powder, and salt and pepper. In a small bowl whisk water and eggs until lightly and foamy.
- Place salmon fillets on a sheet of foil and brush the top side with the egg mixture. Sprinkle macadamia-coconut mixture over salmon, gently press with your fingers so it sticks. Gently turn the salmon fillets over and repeat egg mixture and macadamia mixture.
- Transfer salmon fillets to prepared baking sheet (without the foil). Bake for 10-20 minutes until the macadamia crust is golden. (see note)
- While salmon is baking, prepare the pineapple salsa by stirring together all ingredients in a bowl.When salmon is done baking, serve warm with pineapple salsa. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Oh my gosh there is nothing worse then having an intense craving and you can’t satisfy it! I was craving this plantain and black bean burrito in san fran like no other and when I got there they told me they were out. What?! It’s plantains and black beans make me another how dare you! haha. Either way I adore nut crusted fish if cooked properly and the fact that you threw in a pineapple salsa has me swooning and I barely eat fish, like once a month if that! Pinning this now!
Bombdotcome indeed! Love macadamia nut crusted salmon. Mahi mahi is good for that too. I like to use honey sometimes in the nut crust. It adds sweetness, but more importantly helps it stick to the fish
Ooh, I never thought to use honey, that’s brilliant!!
This looks amazing – I love all the tropical flavours and textures!
I am not a fan of fish but I could not stop eating this!