Blackened Salmon — Something Intentional, Something Mine

There is a girl in my English class named Madison who talks about her mother's Easter traditions like they're something everybody has. The deviled eggs her grandmother makes. The ham with the pineapple rings. The baskets her mother fills every year, even now that they're seniors, because "it's tradition." She says "tradition" the way you say "gravity" — like it's just there, holding everything together, and you'd have to be crazy to question it.

I don't have Easter traditions. I have seven different Easters in seven different houses, most of which I don't remember and none of which involved a basket anyone filled for me. The Bedfords — the third home, when I was six — gave us each a single chocolate egg from the Dollar General. I remember that. I remember eating it so fast I barely tasted it, because when you're six and you weigh forty-two pounds, you eat fast. You eat like someone's going to take it. Someone usually did.

But this Sunday — Easter Sunday — I was in Gloria's kitchen at 6 AM helping her prep a ham. Not a pineapple-ring ham. Gloria doesn't do pineapple on ham. "That's decorating, not cooking," she says. Gloria's ham is rubbed with brown sugar, mustard, and cloves, wrapped in foil, and slow-baked for four hours. The house smelled like heaven if heaven were a place in Prattville, Alabama, which honestly it might be.

James wore a tie to church. He only owns two ties and this was the nice one — navy blue, no stains. Gloria wore the purple dress she wears every Easter and the hat she's had since before I was born. I wore a yellow blouse from Goodwill that Gloria told me looked beautiful, and I almost believed her. After church, we ate. Ham, potato salad, deviled eggs, collard greens, and Gloria's coconut cake, which is four layers of something close to a religious experience.

We sat at the table — just the three of us, because it's always just the three of us — and James said grace, and Gloria said amen, and I sat there with a plate full of food made by a woman who chose to love me, and I thought: this is what tradition feels like. Not inherited. Built. Chosen. Gloria didn't pass this down to me through blood. She handed it to me across a kitchen counter and said, "Here. This is yours now."

I had two pieces of cake. Gloria had three. James pretended not to notice.

That Easter table still sits somewhere in the back of my mind when I cook now—the idea that food can be something handed over, something chosen. The week after, I didn’t try to recreate Gloria’s coconut cake (some things you don’t attempt), but I wanted to make something that felt intentional, something I could call mine. This blackened salmon is exactly that: bold enough to feel like a declaration, simple enough for a Tuesday night when it’s just you and a hot skillet and the quiet satisfaction of choosing what goes on your plate.

Blackened Salmon

Prep Time: 15 min | Cook Time: 5 min | Total Time: 20 min | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 pound wild caught salmon fillets, skin on
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons homemade Blackened Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon butter (or more olive oil for dairy free)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus one drizzle
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

Instructions

1. Brine the salmon. In a large shallow dish, whisk together 4 cups room temperature water and 3 tablespoons kosher salt until dissolved. Place the salmon in the water and wait for 15 minutes.
2. Prepare the seasoning. If you haven’t already, mix up the blackened seasoning.
3. Season the fish. Pat the salmon dry with a clean towel. Rub it generously with oil and sprinkle it with the kosher salt and blackened seasoning.
4. Sear the salmon. Heat a large skillet (not non-stick) over medium high heat and add the butter and olive oil. When butter is melted, add the salmon skin side up and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until cooked about halfway to the center of the thick part of the salmon.
5. Flip and finish. Flip the salmon (a fish spatula makes easy work of it). Tilt the pan down slightly and quickly spoon the pan juices over the top of the fish a few times. Drizzle with the lemon juice and spoon the pan juices a few times again. Cook for 2 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness, until just tender and pink at the center (the internal temperature should be between 125 to 130 Fahrenheit in the center when removed). Remove from the heat and serve.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 234 | Protein: 25.3g | Fat: 15.2g | Saturated Fat: 3.7g | Carbs: 0g | Fiber: 0g | Sodium: 89mg | Cholesterol: 65.6mg | Sugar: 0g