This is a recipe Don and I discovered on the Food Network website during our first year of living together. We made it many times during that first year and often come back to it still. The minty cucumber salad compliments the roasted salmon deliciously and the sesame crust makes for a beautiful presentation. If you want to get really fancy, try laying down alternate of regular and black sesame seeds. Than press the salmon flesh into the seeds for a tiger stripe like effect.

Roasted Salmon with Chile Minted Cucumbers

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Ingredients

• 1 small hot house cucumber, sliced thin
• 1/2 fresh red chile, sliced thin
• 1 handful fresh mint leaves
• 1/2 cup rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (6-ounce) salmon fillet, without skin
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Directions

Combine the cucumber, chile, and mint in a mixing bowl. Pour in the vinegar, sprinkle with the sugar, salt, and pepper. Toss everything together so the cucumbers are well coated in the vinegar, the cucumbers will soften and the flavors deepen as it sits.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Season both sides of the salmon with a fair amount of salt and pepper. Sprinkle the top of the salmon with the sesame seeds. Place a cast iron or regular ovenproof skillet on the stove over medium heat. Coat the pan with the oil and when it is nice and hot, lay the salmon in the pan, sesame seed-side down. Sear the salmon for 3 minutes, then stick it in the oven and roast for 10 minutes until it's just cooked through. Serve the salmon on a pile of the chile minted cucumbers.