This is the kind of recipe I love. It comes with zillions of variations so you can adapt it to fit your diet, your mood, what you have on hand. A light, colorful meal that is surprisingly easy to whip together considering the complex play of flavors in the dish.
This recipe is just one of over 200 in The Paleo Mom‘s new Paleo Approach Cookbook.
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- 2 pounds blood oranges, segmented (see Tips)
- Finely grated zest of 1 lime
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ medium red onion, diced
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 4 to 6 (6- to 8-ounce) salmon fillets
- 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest (about 1 lemon)
- ¼ cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- ½ cup white wine, fresh orange juice, or apple juice
- Combine the salsa ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate until it’s time to eat.
- Combine the lemon zest and juice, thyme, and wine in a small bowl. Pour over the salmon fillets in a resealable bag or nonreactive container. Marinate 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack so that salmon will be 6 to 8 inches from the top element in the oven. Preheat the broiler on high for 10 minutes. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
- Remove the salmon from the marinade and place on the pre- pared baking sheet (if the fillets have skin, lay them skin side down). Discard the remaining marinade.
- Broil 10 to 12 minutes, until the salmon is opaque through- out and the segments flake apart easily.
- Serve with the salsa.
- Replace the red onion with green onion (green part only) or chives or omit.
- To segment an orange, use a sharp paring knife to cut off the top and bottom. Lay the orange on a cutting board and cut off the peel all the way around. Then, holding the orange in your hand, use the knife to carefully cut out each segment by cutting down one side of the segment close to the membrane and then twisting the knife to pry the segment off the membrane on the other side.
- You can easily substitute just about any other type of fish in this recipe—trout, halibut, and amberjack work particularly well.
- In place of the blood oranges, use 2 pounds mango, peeled, seeded, and diced. Mango Salsa is a great accompaniment to chicken, pork, and beef.
- Actually, this salsa tastes delicious with many different types of fruits. Other fruits that work particularly well are papaya, pear, peach, apricot, orange, grapefruit, and strawberries.
- Instead of using fish fillets, use chicken breasts, thighs, or tenders. Bake at 375°F for 20 to 40 minutes, until fully cooked.
- Want to skip the wine? Broiled salmon seasoned simply with a sprinkle of truffle salt is absolutely divine!
Sarah Ballantyne, Ph.D. (a.k.a. The Paleo Mom) is the blogger behind the award-winning blog www.ThePaleoMom.com, cohost of the top-rated and syndicated The Paleo View podcast, and author of two books, The Paleo Approach and The Paleo Approach Cookbook.
Sarah is an accomplished, award-winning scientist who is passionate about scientific literacy and about distilling scientific concepts into straightforward and accessible explanations. As a scientist both by training and by nature, Sarah is deeply interested in understanding how the foods we eat interact with our gut barriers, immune systems, and hormones to influence health.
Sarah has also always loved food and loved cooking. She loves being creative in the kitchen and finding ways to reinvent old favorites. She cooks mostly for her family, which is why you will see such a diversity of recipes on her blog. She believes that even healthy food should taste amazing and that there can be room in life for celebrations with food and occasional treats (and that what occasional means is individual).
You can also find Sarah on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.

Are you struggling to sustain a paleo lifestyle change? Or not sure how to start? Or perhaps those around you are resistant and you’re feeling undermined and unsure. The Modern, No-Nonsense Guide to Paleo provides practical tools to ease the transition to a full-on paleo life. Each chapter includes strategies, tips and checklists to identify the actions to power you on your paleo journey and create sustainable change. Buy it at Amazon.com.