I have to confess, I’m not very adventurous when it comes to fish.  There are only a few varieties I cook regularly.  Salmon, however, is one I absolutely love and thankfully my kids love it, too. My wife picked up a Salmon Tea Rub in a spice store in Newport, RI a while back and we decided to try it out. You can check it out here, but it would definitely be easy to make up a similar version on your own with some loose-leaf black tea. I served the salmon with the Golden Beet and Arugula Salad I posted the other day.  Great combination!

Tea-crusted Salmon

Ingredients  serves 4-6

• 1.5-2 lbs salmon
• olive oil
• 1 oz. Salmon Tea Rub, or the following:
• 1/4 oz. loose-leaf black tea
• 1/2 tsp black peppercorns
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 tsp whole coriander seeds

Preparation

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

If preparing the tea rub on your own, combine the tea and the salt in a small bowl. Put the peppercorns and coriander seeds in a Ziploc bag with as little air as possible. Crack the seeds roughly with a meat mallet or other “blunt instrument”. Add this mixture to the tea and salt and stir to combine.

Lay the salmon out skin side down in a large baking pan and brush with olive oil. Coat evenly with the tea rub and press the rub into the fish with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until your desired doneness.

Some basmati rice with thyme and a salad makes for a really good combination and a great healthy meal!

Wine pairing – go with a nice Pinot Noir for this dish.