Gorgeous brown sugar honey marinated salmon with an amazing pineapple quinoa. Juicy, sweet, and full of lovely flavors, this is the perfect summertime dinner.
Preheat oven to 400 degree F. Spray baking pan with nonstick cooking spray. Remove salmon from ziploc bag and place skin side down on large baking pan lined with foil. Line pineapple next to salmon and brush leftover marinade on salmon and pineapple. Sprinkle with a little bit of extra brown sugar for extra caramelization.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until salmon easily flakes with fork. I usually broil my salmon for a min or two at the end to get an additional caramelization on top. Just be sure not to dry out your fish! 18 minutes is usually perfect timing for me! **See notes for additional information on cooking times.
While salmon is cooking, prepare quinoa. Bring water and coconut milk to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to low; add quinoa and cover; simmering until all liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand another 5-10 minutes. Fluff the quinoa with a fork and set aside.
Add in red onion and cilantro to quinoa. Once salmon is finished cooking, remove pineapple from baking sheet and fold into quinoa. Season with salt and lime juice to taste.
Salmon is very sensitive and can dry out easily if overcooked, so make sure you watch your fish! For every inch of thickness of the salmon, generally it takes about 10 minutes to cook. Usually salmon fillets are about 1 1/2 inches thick.
Preparing quinoa ahead of time makes this dish even easier. You can serve the quinoa warm or cold.
Almonds not included in nutritional information since they are optional