I love to cook. I love meal planning, grocery shopping, food prep, cooking, the whole bit. Since BB, there seem to be less hours in the day for all of that. So, I have my basic, healthy meals that are on constant rotation. I make sure salmon is on the menu at least once or twice a week. I LOVE salmon, but my husband, not so much. So I am constantly concocting meals that disguise the salmon flavor. I have a weird thing about classifying recipes into seasons (restaurants too). And this is definitely a Spring/Summer recipe, in my book. So as soon as Spring hits, these tacos are regulars at our house.

While I love cooking, I HATE following recipes. I typically scour Pinterest for meals that look tasty, I look over the recipe list, and then I add my own flair and give it a go. A couple years ago, when I went vegetarian (pescatarian, really) for a hot minute, I was searching Pinterest for the perfect salmon taco. I am very particular about spices. I know what I like and what I don’t like, and I never found the perfect salmon taco. But, I stole bits and pieces from several recipes and created these. They are taco gold. Even the most dubious salmon haters will love them. Blake has ranked these in my top five meals of all time.

If you are a mama and like to feed your babies/kids whatever is on the menu, this is a perfect recipe for you. While the salmon rub is probably too spicy for most kids, I just cut a kid size portion off my salmon and cook it separately. Luckily, BB inherited my love for salmon, so this is a favorite of hers. Whenever we have these tacos, she eats salmon, guac, and cut up tortilla with us. She LOVES when her food looks like ours.

While I do not follow a recipe, most of my cooking consists of throwing in a little of this and a little of that, I did my best to “measure it out” this time. So here it is!

SPICY SALMON TACOS

Serving Size: 2

SALMON:

2 6oz pieces of salmon

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (if you like an extra kick!)

1/4 tsp olive oil or coconut oil

Pat dry salmon with a paper towel, so the rub sticks to it. Combine all spices and mix evenly. Toss salmon in the spice rub until completely covered on all sides. Heat a nonstick pan on the stove over medium heat. Drizzle olive oil on the pan. I then use a paper towel to spread the olive oil around and to wipe up the residual oil. I only like a tiny bit in the pan, or else the salmon tastes too greasy. Sear all sides of the salmon until cooked to desired wellness. Blake likes his well-done, which takes about 5-7 minutes per side. To avoid burning, cook over medium-low heat. 

GUAC:

2 ripe avocados

chopped red onion

chopped cilantro

chopped jalapeno (I add this after I scoop out some for BB)

lime

S+P

Stir to combine. 

CABBAGE SLAW:

chopped red cabbage

chopped green onion

chopped cilantro

lime

Stire to combine. 

CABBAGE SLAW DRESSING:

2 tbsp mayo or greek yogurt

1 tbsp honey

1 lime juiced

S+P

Most of the time, I prefer my cabbage slaw naked, as pictured. If you want a dressing, which sometimes I do, the above dressing is really light and fresh. Simply stir to combine.

CHIPOTLE MAYO:

1/4 cup mayo

3-4 tbsp chipotle in adobo sauce

Stir to combine. 

Voila, enjoy those omega 3s!