Sweet Salmon with a Kick with Grilled Vegetable, Arugula, and Yellow Tomato Salad and Thyme Corn Bread

Once again, I must give full credit for this meal to the wonders that are Cooking Light. What would I do without you, dear magazine? This time it brings me a new twist on a staple - salmon - along with a positively ravishing simple salad and corn bread to boot. The salad especially surprised me beyond expectations. While it looks simple at the start, the flavors are refreshing and unique, and all who ate it declared it the best part of the meal.

Along with the salad, the salmon was sweet and savory all at once and the thyme in the corn bread provided something different from the typical corn bread. All in all, it was a sweet and savory, satisfying meal that hit the spot on a summer evening!

Sweet Salmon with a Kick
This entree builds upon some Asian flavors but with a tinge of sweetness as well. It combines five-spice and honey, rice vinegar and soy sauce. The combination is different and tasty all at once. Keep in mind that if you do not have a broiling pan the liquid will go to the side and burn... Make sure that you do not pool the liquid next to the salmon in that case.

This recipe also has you add fresh green onion at the end, but I skipped that step. I preferred the simplicity of the salmon with the sauce and it worked out well!

Grilled Vegetable, Arugula, and Yellow Tomato Salad
I thank whoever first thought of making this salad! I'm not sure if it was the dressing or the ingredients, but somehow this turned out wonderfully. The warmth of the vegetables combined with the fresh coolness of the salad and the light and sweet dressing with a slight kick at the end worked wonders together.

As mentioned in many previous posts, the lack of a grill made me get creative once again. I prepared the vegetables on a grill pan and it worked out nicely. I'm sure the real thing, with its charcoal flavor, would be even better but do not worry if you must make do last minute like I do! We did not hesitate in devouring the salad regardless.

Get the vegetables cooking while the salmon cooks and mix up the dressing. Combine everything last minute for the freshest results.

Thyme Corn Bread
Finally, I rounded out this meal with some freshly made thyme corn bread. I was intrigued by the recipe and looking for an interesting way to play with one of the most delicious breads that exists, and to make it in a healthy manner. Here is the result. Instead of just cornmeal, you are called upon to add fresh corn kernels and thyme to this mixture. I enjoyed the corn addition but used canned corn kernels instead since those were more readily available. If you choose to head down that path as well make sure to check the nutrition labels and select a healthier version; sometimes canned vegetables add salt for no discernible reason!

The thyme added a spark to the bread I had not expected, but I did enjoy it. Unfortunately, though, the bread came out rather dry. It was less fluffy and moist than most of the corn breads I have both made and tasted. No doubt this was partially due to making it healthier (i.e. less butter) but somehow it wasn't quite as exciting as I wished. I'm still suggesting you try it, but perhaps boost up the moisture content as you do so!