Grilled Salmon with Dill-Caper-Mustard Sauce

Salmon and dill go together like ice cream and fudge sauce, though salmon is infinitely healthier.  For a couple of Fridays during Lent, this dill-topped salmon recipe has graced our dinner table, much to my kids’ delight.  Despite the presence of capers, my youngest daughter loves it too.  Our alternative sauce for salmon is a mustard-mayonnaise-dill combination.  That is also a winning combination.  But if you are trying to avoid mayo, this dill sauce may be the one for you.  The dish can be put together in half an hour.

Below is the recipe and step-by-step instructions with photos follow.  (The recipe is adapted from a delightful recipe for a salmon and asparagus sheet-pan dinner in Diabetic Living Magazine, Spring 2020.)

Print Recipe
Grilled Salmon with Dill-Caper-Mustard Sauce
(adapted from recipe in Spring 2020 Diabetic Living Magazine)
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Main Course
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets (four 6 oz. pieces)
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil plus extra to coat salmon
  • 2 medium lemons
  • 1 bunch fresh dill
  • 1 shallot (or 1/2 small onion)
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained
  • freshly ground pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
Course Main Dish
Cuisine American
Keyword Main Course
Servings
Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 pounds salmon fillets (four 6 oz. pieces)
  • salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil plus extra to coat salmon
  • 2 medium lemons
  • 1 bunch fresh dill
  • 1 shallot (or 1/2 small onion)
  • 3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon capers, drained
  • freshly ground pepper to taste (about 1/4 teaspoon)
Instructions
  1. Cut salmon into 4 portions (if not already portioned). Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Season each fillet with salt and pepper to taste and coat with some olive oil. Cut one lemon into 8 thin slices. If any lemon is remaining, store for another use. On each fillet, arrange two lemon slices and 1-2 sprigs of dill. Let stand 20 minutes at room temperature.
  2. Peel and chop shallot or dice finely 1/2 small onion. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in small or medium non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add chopped shallot or onions to pan, reduce heat to medium low, and cook until soft and begins to lightly brown (about 3 minutes for shallots, 5-8 minutes for onions), stirring frequently. Remove from heat.
  3. Preheat grill. If using gas grill, preheat all three burners on high. When ready, turn off middle burner and reduce outer burners to medium heat. Place salmon fillets on grill, lemon-side up. Close lid and grill for 8 minutes for medium-thick fillets or until cooked through.
  4. While salmon is grilling, chop 2-3 sprigs of dill. Set aside. (If there are dill sprigs remaining from the bunch, store for another use.) Slice lemon in half and squeeze lemon juice from each half into small bowl, removing any seeds.
  5. Two minutes before removing salmon from grill, return pan with shallots or onions to medium heat and add 1/2 of lemon juice, mustard, capers, and freshly ground pepper to taste. Stir until fully combined and heated through. Add more lemon juice as necessary to reach the desired balance of flavor. [Sauce will be slightly sour, but if too sour, mix in 1-2 teaspoons honey.] Keep sauce warm.
  6. Remove salmon from grill. Discard lemon and dill. Stir chopped dill into sauce and spoon over each fillet. Serve immediately.
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STEP-BY-STEP INSTRUCTIONS

Prepare salmon for 4 portions.  Rinse and pat dry with a paper towel.  Season both sides of each fillet with salt and pepper.  Drizzle olive oil and coat both sides. Using one lemon, cut 8 thin slices. You probably will have some lemon left over.  My suggestion is to use the leftovers to flavor water to drink with dinner!  On each fillet, place two lemon slices and 1- 2 sprigs of dill (pull apart each sprig if necessary to cover the fillet).  Let stand 20 minutes at room temperature.  Yes, I know I’m missing one fillet from the dish . . . .

Get the rest of your ingredients ready.

Peel and dice one shallot.  If you don’t have a shallot on hand, substitute with 1/2 a small onion.

Heat a medium, non-stick frying pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and cook the diced shallot (or onion) on medium-low heat until soft and beginning to brown.  For shallots, it’s about 3 minutes, stirring frequently and being careful so that it doesn’t burn.  For onions, this will take longer, usually more than double.  Be patient!  When ready, remove the pan from the heat.  In the photo below, I am just starting to cook the shallots.

Before the shallots are ready to remove from the heat, you should quickly slip outside and pre-heat the grill.  (But don’t stay there for long or you’ll have burnt shallots!)  I have a gas grill, so what I do is turn all the burners on high.  When the grill has been pre-heated, I reduce the top and bottom burners to medium and turn off the middle burner altogether. 

After the shallots have been removed from the heat, go back outside to do some grilling.  Place the fillets in the middle of grill, lemon-side up. Close the lid and move on to making the sauce.  Medium thick fillets will take about 8 minutes to grill.  While the fillets are on the grill, slice in half and squeeze juice from one lemon. Chop 2-3 sprigs of dill. Set aside.  About 2 minutes before fillets are ready to take off the grill, add lemon juice (just 1/2 of juice at first and then add more to taste after mixing ingredients), mustard, capers, and ground pepper (to taste) to the pan with the shallots and place the pan back on medium heat.

Stir until fully incorporated and heated through, less than one minute.  Keep on warm until fillets are ready.  If sauce is too sour, add 1 or 2 teaspoons of honey to balance out the flavor.

When the fillets are cooked through, remove them from the grill and place them on a serving platter.  If the fillets are thicker, the fillets may need to be grilled longer, 10-12 minutes.  If the fillets are thinner, 6 minutes may be enough.  Test for doneness!  Here is what the salmon looks like after grilling.  (The salmon is tasty from the grill even without the sauce!)

While you might be tempted to keep the lemon slices and grilled dill on the salmon, you should actually discard them and move on to the sauce. For the sauce, remove the pan from the heat and mix in the chopped dill.

Spoon the sauce onto each fillet, sprinkle a little more chopped dill over the fillet if you wish, and serve.

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