Broiled Sweet and Spicy Salmon with Pineapple and Cilantro Rice

Alex and I cooked this last night, but not for dinner.  We were out celebrating my birthday with my family. 

Here is a recap of some of my birthday celebrations:

We were matching. 

Birthday dinner with some of my favs!  Baby Walker Davis Smith joined us from Holly's belly! 

I got to enjoy dinner with two of my InsideOut high school girls too. 

 Celebrating with Mary in Mexico

 The whole gang in Mexico

Can we go back already?!

I made this for my lunch this week at work.  My picky husband does not care for salmon or left over fish.  So when I found this recipe I knew it was perfect for me to take to work for some variety.  

I love when sweet and spicy come together.  This is a light meal to make and really quick too.  From start to finish I was done in under 30 minutes. 

I bought my wild caught salmon, frozen, at Trader Joe's.  I read an article once about wild caught vs. farm raised salmon.  Farm raised salmon are not naturally pink inside.  They add a dye before they are sold which causes them to turn pink and go blind.  The research did not show that it is harmful to humans, but you have to wonder.  Regardless of that, I still choose wild caught because farm raised are pumped full of anti-biotics to prevent diseases that are caused when a large amount of fish are grown in a small cage.

Broiled sweet and spicy salmon with pineapple and cilantro rice

Ingredients:

• 1 cup long grain white rice (we used a mix of jasmine and basmati)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (I added a little more and it gave it a great kick)
• 1 lb. skinless salmon fillet, cut into 4 pieces
• Salt and pepper 
• nonstick cooking spray
• 1/2 of a whole pineapple peeled, cored, and cut into 8 pieces lengthwise (my pineapple went bad before I got to this recipe so I used a can of the pineapple tidbits instead)
• 1/4 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, roughly chopped
• lime wedges (optional)

Directions:

Heat broiler, with rack in top position.  Cook rice according to package instructions.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together maple syrup and cayenne pepper.  Spray a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick spray.  Place salmon on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper.  Layer pineapple around salmon in a single layer.  Brush salmon and pineapple with half of the maple syrup glaze.  Broil the salmon until it is cooked though 8 to 11 minutes, brushing the salmon and pineapple half way through cooking time with other half of glaze.  Add cilantro to rice and fluff with fork.  Serve with lime wedges to squeeze on top of dish if desired.