Mango-Glazed Salmon

This is a very easy recipe to put together, another one that just goes to show that you don't have to spend hours putting a nice meal together. I've even made the glaze a day in advance, refrigerated it, then warmed up before cooking.  This makes a weeknight dinner even quicker! In the summer we usually do this on the outside grill.  Who wants to turn their  broiler on when it's already  hot in the kitchen!

The cast of characters.  (Note that the recipe calls for fresh ginger.  I forgot to buy any, didn't have any in the freezer.  As it was already getting close to 100 degrees outside I wasn't going back to the store! The online calculators said that 1 teaspoon ground ginger equals 1 tablespoon fresh, so that's what I used.  It was fine.  Sometimes you just have to adjust to the situation and ingredients at hand!)

Cinnamon stick and star anise. Star anise is a  star-shaped, dark brown pod that contains a pea-size seed in each of its eight segments. Native to China, star anise comes from a small evergreen tree. It's flavor is slightly more bitter than that of regular anise seed. Asian cooks use star anise to give a licorice flavor to savory dishes, particularly those with pork and poultry. It's available whole or ground and is an ingredient in Chinese five-spice powder. Use it sparingly--a little goes a long way. It adds a really nice flavor to this dish.

Mango-Glazed Salmon

1 (11.5-ounce) can mango nectar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 (3-inch) cinnamon stick
1 star anise
1 teaspoon rice vinegar
6 (6-ounce) salmon filets (about 1-inch thick)

Stir together the first six ingredients in a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 25 minutes or until reduced to 3/4 cup.  Pour mango mixture through a wire-mesh strainer; discard solids.  Return mango mixture to saucepan; keep warm.

Place salmon on a lightly greased rack in a broiler pan. Broil 5 1/2 inches from heat 5 minutes.  Brush fish with 1/3 cup mango mixture.  Broil 3 more minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.  Spoon remaining mango mixture evenly over fish.

I made this dinner for my Hubby's birthday.  He's an avid bicycle rider.  When I found these napkin rings I knew they belonged in our home! We probably should have taken the salmon off the grill a little earlier as the glaze burns easily.  Everything was fine, the salmon was just right. I got so excited showing him the napkin rings that I forgot to check on the fish!  Oops!