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Cooking salmon has a huge return on the time and effort invested. It’s a flavorful fish that can stand up to many different cooking methods and flavors. Here, I mix sour, floral limes with cool mint to make an enticing combination for this Whole30 mojito salmon with crispy, roasted fingerling potatoes.
I’ve really become a fan of sheet pan meals, especially for weeknight meals when I’m cooking after work. Most sheet pan meals plop everything on the pan and then the meal roasts in the oven, but this dinner is a little different. While the potatoes roast in the oven, you’ll prepare the salmon en papillote, which is a cooking method that will gently steam the salmon. The little parchment packages are placed on the sheet pan as the potatoes finish crisping up. This dinner is fast, and easy, making it perfect for nights where you want dinner fast and don’t want to do dishes afterward.
Mojito Seasoning Blend is a Winter Flavor Booster
Mojitos are a classic cocktail made from rum, sugar, mint, and lime, and thought to originate in Cuba. While I don’t really drink cocktails (there have been maybe two or three that I’ve enjoyed – ever), I do love the combination of mint and lime in all kinds of applications.
While dried spices are available year round, I enjoy using as much fresh produce as possible, and that’s why I developed this savory mojito seasoning mix. Limes are at their peak in winter, and there are many varieties of mint that grow year round. Adding a bit of crushed red pepper flakes balances out the cooling sensation of the mint, making this a flavorful way to add flavor to lots of different dishes.
Try this seasoning mix on other proteins, like chicken or shrimp, or on vegetables like cauliflower or carrots. It’s versatile and flavorful.
Ingredients and Substitutions
Limes
Limes can be found year-round at the grocery store, but their peak season is winter. When picking out limes, look for fruits that have some give when gently squeezed (they should not be hard like rocks) and feel heavy for their size. You can also sniff the stem end (where the fruit was picked from the tree) and see if it has a distinct floral/lime scent; unripe limes will not smell like much of anything.
Don’t be limited by the grocery store varieties either. Persian limes are great, but there’s also Calamansi limes, Palestine limes, and even Rangpur limes (which look like oranges). Citrus trees also hybridize easily, so your local farmer may have some even wilder, more special varieties.
Mint
Mint is one of the most versatile herbs as it can be used in sweet and savory dishes. And drinks like Moroccan mint tea and mojitos, of course.
There are many different varieties of mint, the most common being spearmint. But there are several mint varieties that are cold-hardy and can be grown year round; these are the varieties you’ll most likely see at the winter farmers market. My favorite of the cold-hardy mints is apple mint (also known as pineapple mint), which has small, fuzzy leaves. Apple mint has a fruity aftertaste, so it pairs well with all the lime in the mojito salmon.
Persian Lime Olive Oil
One of the most common recipe-related questions I get from family members is what to do with these kinds of flavored olive oils. Since they don’t know what to do with them, the bottles sit on the shelf, sadly, and then expire. Don’t let this ingredient scare you off! It is quite versatile and can be used in vinaigrettes, sauces, cakes and other desserts, and like I use here, as a finishing oil. I received the lime olive oil as a gift, otherwise I’d link it here for you guys – it’s excellent!
Now before you run out and buy the first flavored olive oils you see, there are some things to be aware of. First, I recommend going with a “cold-pressed” or “crushed” olive oil and avoiding “infused” oils. Infused oils are when the flavoring agent is added to the olive oil and through time (and sometimes heat), the flavoring agents of the citrus peel or herbs seep into the olive oil. I tend to find these to be not nearly as flavorful as their cold-pressed counterparts, where the flavoring agent is pressed alongside the olives in order to extract maximum flavor. Second, any “flavored” olive oil is not technically “extra virgin,” as extra virgin olive oil is a regulated term and is defined as 100% olive oil. That being said, I have found many great flavored olive oils that are also mistakenly labeled as “extra virgin.” Talk with your vendor to see what they mean by using this term; it may just be a misunderstanding where they are using the first press of the olives to make their flavored oils.
Don’t feel limited to using lime olive oil; any citrus olive oil will hit the same notes(orange is a popular flavor). If you want to bump up the spice level, try using a jalapeno olive oil (my favorite is this one from Sciabica, a vendor at the CUESA Ferry Building Farmers Market).
Salmon
For those that don’t like salmon (it’s weirdly polarizing), this method would work well on a flaky white fish, like cod, or even on shrimp (look for larger shrimp so that they do not overcook). The mojito seasoning is very versatile, so try it out on whatever protein you want!
Tips and Tricks
Cooking fish en papillote sounds fancy, but it’s pretty easy. En papillote basically means that whatever you’re cooking (salmon, chicken, veggies, this technique can be used for just about anything) is wrapped in a parchment paper pouch to gently steam in the oven. The pouches are generally made to be single servings, and can be served directly.
If you don’t have any parchment paper to make the steaming pouches for the mojito salmon, use aluminum foil. It won’t be as pretty as the parchment paper, but it’ll work just as well. Don’t forget to poke the packet to release the steam!
Serving Suggestions
Mojito salmon easily scales up and scales down. This is one of my go-to meals when my husband is out on one of his work trips, because I can wrap up a single salmon fillet and halve the number of potatoes, and then it’s an easy single serving meal. Just remember to keep each fillet wrapped up separately in its own parchment paper pouch.
Whole30 Mojito Salmon with Crispy Roasted Potatoes
Mix sour, floral limes with cool mint to make an enticing combination for this Whole30 mojito salmon with crispy, roasted fingerling potatoes.
Ingredients
Mojito Seasoning Blend
- 2 sprigs mint
- 2 limes
- ¼ tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- ½ tsp kosher salt
Crispy Fingerling Potatoes
- 10 oz fingerling potatoes
- 4 mint leaves
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 1 tsp kosher salt
Mojito Salmon en papillote
- 2 tbsp avocado oil
- 2 salmon fillets
- Mojito seasoning
- 1 lime
Finishing Steps
- 1 tbsp Persian Lime Olive Oil (optional, but highly recommended)
- Juice of 2 limes
Instructions
Mojito Seasoning Mix
- Separate mint leaves from the woody stalks, and chop finely, and zest two limes. Save the zested limes for juicing later.
- Mix mint and lime zest with crushed red pepper flakes and kosher salt. Set aside.
Crispy Fingerling Potatoes
- Prehead oven to 400°F.
- Slice fingerling potatoes in half (fourths if the potato is especially large). Finely julienne the mint leaves.
- Toss the potatoes with the mint leaves, avocado oil, and kosher salt. Spread out on a large sheet pan and roast in the oven for 25 minutes.
Mojito Salmon en papillote
- Cut two large pieces of parchment paper. When folded in half, a single salmon fillet should fit comfortably inside with approximately 3 inches on all but the folded sides.
- Fold each parchment sheet in half, reopen, and add 1 tbsp avocado oil to one half of each sheet of parchment.
- Place one salmon fillet on top of the oil in each parchment sheet. Top each salmon fillet with half of the mojito seasoning mixture.
- Slice lime into ⅛ inch thick slices. Top each salmon fillet with two slices of lime.
- Fold over parchment, and fold edges together to seal the packet together. Use a knife to poke a single hole into the top of each packet to allow steam to escape.
- Pull fingerling potatoes out of the oven and push potatoes around to form space for each salmon packet. Once salmon packets are placed on the sheet pan, return to the oven for 7-8 minutes.
Finishing Steps
- Pull sheet pan from the oven and take salmon out of their parchment packages. Take off lime slices and drizzle with the Persian Lime Olive Oil.
- Toss the crispy potatoes with the juice of the two zested limes.
- Serve, and enjoy!
