25 Minute Salmon with Mango, Avocado & Lime Salad

It has officially been a month since I last went grocery shopping. Between the stomach flu that went around our house and the takeout during Grandpa's visit the food stretched a bit further. So today I went to the grocery store and walked out spending $130. I figure when I'm in Burlington on Wednesday I'll spend around $40 in the bulk section at City Market. The $170 in groceries should get us through three weeks.

Since we have a lot of extra meat in the freezer from stocking up during sales I elected to splurge a little. Salmon was on sale and I love it. It's been bitterly cold so this is my pretending I'm in the tropics meal. It can be on the table in under 25 minutes.

Salmon with Mango, Avocado, & Lime Salad (Total recipe cost $9.96- $2.49/serving)
(technically it serves 4 since the USDA says 3oz of fish is a serving, my husband says "that's crap" and it serves 2- he claims fish is "not filling")

1 lb boneless salmon filet (6.99/lb for me this time) 6.99
1 mango 1.29
1 avocado .99
1 lime .69

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a casserole dish and place the salmon in it skin side down. Squeeze half the lime over it. I also put in some lemon zest that I had extra but that is completely optional. Put it in the oven and set the timer for 18 minutes. Don't worry that the oven isn't up to temperature, that's why we put it at 375.

2. Peel the mango, cut the fruit from the pit and dice the mango. Cut the avocado in half, remove the pit, scoop the flesh out with a spoon and dice the avocado. I reserved the skin of the avocado to serve my salad in.

3. Mix the diced mango and avocado in a bowl. Cut two small wedges off your remaining half a lime and set aside to serve with the salmon. Squeeze the rest of the lime over the mango and avocado and toss gently with a spoon to mix. Place in the fridge until you are ready to serve.

4. When the timer goes off on the salmon at 18 minutes take a peek at it to see how done it is. I stick a fork in and see if it flakes a bit. Salmon will continue to cook for almost five minutes after being taken out of the oven so you want to remove it a bit early. I put mine back in for 3 more minutes since it was a fairly thick piece. The time will depend on the thickness of your salmon.

5. Plate the salmon and salad and enjoy!

Even though the toddler had already eaten she decided the salad was her favorite thing ever. After she scavenged off of both of our plates we put the bowl of extra on the floor. She "dueled" anyone else if they tried to sneak their fork in for a bite. 

Full mouth, happy toddler.