Blackened Salmon with Avocado Cucumber Salsa

Winter Bees

by Joyce Sidman.

We are an ancient tribe,

a hardy scrum.

Born with eyelash legs

and tinsel wings,

we are nothing on our own. 

Together, we are One. 

We scaled a million blooms 

to reap the summer's glow. 

Now, in the merciless cold, 

We share each morsel of heat, 

each honeyed crumb. 

We cram to a sizzling ball 

to warm our queen, our heart, our home. 

Alone, we would falter and drop, 

a dot on the canvas of snow. 

Together, we boil, we teem, we hum. 

Deep in the winter hive, 

we burn like a golden sun.

from the book Winter Bees and Other Poems of the Cold by Joyce Sidman and Rick Allen

Blackened Salmon with Avocado Salsa

Cook's Notes: Salmon seasoned with a tasty cajun spice blend and pan fried until crispy served with a cool and creamy avocado cucumber salsa is an easy and healthy meal to prepare. For this recipe I shopped at Costco and their  pieces were thinner than most other cuts of salmon and worked well for this pan fry recipe. The Avocado Cucumber Salsa can be made a few hours ahead. Recipe serves 2 and was adapted from closetcooking.com

Salmon when it’s wild-caught and not farmed, is one of the most nutritious foods on the planet. A small fillet of wild salmon has 131 fewer calories and half the fat content of the same amount of farmed salmon.
Wild salmon is credited with everything from extending the life span to preventing heart attacks and cancer. And not only does the salmon nutrition profile possess one of the highest omega-3 contents of any type of fish, but each serving is also packed with tons of other vitamins, minerals and salmon protein as well.
Avocado is the only fruit that provides a substantial amount of healthy monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA). Avocados are a naturally nutrient-dense food and contain nearly 20 vitamins and minerals.
Together they are a powerhorse of a meal.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of wild salmon not farmed
• 1 TB. of olive oil
• Cajun seasoning 
• Lime

 Avocado Salsa

• 2 avocados
• 1 cup diced cucumbers
• 1/2 cup diced grape tomatoes
• 3 TB. diced red onion
• 1 tsp. parsley flakes
• 1 TB. fresh lime juice

Directions:

For the salmon
In a bowl place salmon and sprinkle both sides with cajun seasoning. How much depends on your personal preference.   
Heat oil in a heavy bottom skillet over a medium high heat. Fry 3-4 minutes per side. Cook until deeply golden to slightly blackened. Squeeze lime juice over salmon and serve immediately.
For the Avocado Cucumber Salsa
Mix everything and enjoy on the salmon.