Grill Salmon Directly On Top Of This Fruit For Next-Level Flavoring

Fish and citrus are best mates, their flavors marrying together as classically as peanut butter and jelly. Pops of acid from citrus fruits offset the briny qualities of a fish, creating a quintessential flavor balance. It's the reason why lemon is the star of many fish dishes. 

Contrasting flavors aside, what is going on behind the scenes that makes this combo a winner? Without getting too high-school chemistry about it, seafood and lemon are a perfect pairing because the acid in the lemon cancels out a chemical called trimethylamine. This is what causes that stereotypical "fishy" smell. 

Many cooks squeeze lemon juice over their salmon as it is cooking or top it with pieces of lemon, but why not flip the script?  An unexpected way to impart that bright lemon flavor, while making the grilling process easier, is to lay your salmon over a nest of sliced lemons right on the grill.

The beauty of this approach is that the lemons not only flavor the salmon, but also create a cooking vessel of sorts, shielding it from too much direct heat and preventing the flesh from falling through the grates. Just be sure to use thick enough slices of lemon so they won't disintegrate when they hit the grill. Either way, you can enjoy eating the charred slices of citrus alongside your bounty, or simply revel in the easy clean-up.

This method works beautifully with salmon, but can also work well with fish like mackerel and trout, and other citrus fruits like oranges or grapefruit. Just avoid using seafood that doesn't belong on your grill, like frozen fish, as the extra moisture yields less than pleasing results. This technique also works for grilling whole fish. 

If the weather isn't conducive to grilling, or you don't have access to an outdoor grill, a grill pan on the stovetop can yield surprisingly similar results. (Just watch the temperature of the pan, and don't forget to turn on the exhaust fan.) Keep the grill angle going with one of the best side dishes to serve with fish, and you are off to the races with an easy summer dinner that punches above its weight in flavor.