Jane Fonda's Salmon With Sweet Corn Relish Is the Ultimate Simple Summer Dinner
Jane Fonda's Salmon with Sweet Corn Sauce
There's simply not enough praise for the fabulous Jane Fonda. The model, actress and fitness guru has been a household name since the 1960s. She rose to stardom via her movies (two of which earned her an Oscar) and then segued into exercise videos in the '80s, when hot pink spandex ruled the world (fun fact: initial VCR sales can be traced back to Fonda herself). Over the decades, her movie and TV roles and political activism have kept her in the public eye, and at 86, she shows no signs of slowing.
The Academy Award-winning actress's healthy recipes have been making the rounds on the internet, too (and honestly, who wouldn’t want to eat like Jane Fonda? She’s gorgeous). Her recipe for salmon with sweet corn sauce recently caught our eye now that the weather is warming up. With just a handful of ingredients and some basic know-how in the kitchen, you, too, can eat like the Barbarella bombshell. To see if the recipe was as good as it sounded, I grabbed all the ingredients and headed to the kitchen. Here's how it went.
Get the recipe: Jane Fonda's Salmon with Sweet Corn Sauce
Ingredients for Jane Fonda's Salmon with Sweet Corn Sauce
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
For this recipe, which appears in Fonda's 1996 cookbook Cooking for Healthy Living, you need soy sauce, garlic, lemon juice, sugar, 4-ounce center-cut salmon filets, fresh corn, sundried tomatoes, cumin, scallions, cilantro (or dried coriander) and black pepper.
How to make Jane Fonda's Salmon with Sweet Corn Sauce
Start by mixing the soy sauce, lemon juice, sugar and garlic in a bowl. Add the salmon, skin side down, and let it marinate for at least 15 minutes (but Jane says up to eight hours).
In a small saucepan, combine the corn, tomatoes, water and cumin. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and mix in the green onions and cilantro.
Coat the salmon with freshly ground black pepper. Add a tablespoon of the marinade to a skillet. Add the salmon and cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork. Serve the salmon topped with the corn relish and a drizzle of marinade from the skillet.
Related: 17 Grilled Salmon Recipes You'll Want to Eat All Summer Long
What I Thought of Jane Fonda's Salmon with Sweet Corn Sauce
Courtesy of Jessica Wrubel
Like Fonda's workouts (and movie career), this one was a classic and delivered impressive results. In less than 30 minutes, I had a delicious and beautifully plated dinner that looked like it came from a fancy restaurant. The hardest part was cutting the corn off the cob (which was my own choice; but why buy frozen when you have early summer corn at your fingertips?!).
I was able to grab all the ingredients I needed in one fell swoop at Whole Foods, including the center-cut salmon (no ends and pieces here, folks). I decided to sub out cilantro for tarragon but added in a touch of dried coriander too for the heck of it. The result? D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!
The flaky fish was supple and perfectly seasoned with soy sauce, lemon and the touch of sugar. The corn relish was sweet, but not overly so, with herby notes from the cilanro and a fresh bite from the green onion. I would 100 percent serve this, hot or cold, for a casual weeknight dinner for two or party platter-style with friends.
Tips for making Jane Fonda's Salmon with Sweet Corn Sauce
Buy fresh over frozen. If you can get your hands on fresh corn, use it for this summer dinner dish (it's the equivalent of three ears of corn, btw). Frozen corn can be watery and the sweetness can be hit-or-miss. Don't want to make a mess? Follow the easiest tip ever for cutting corn off the cob—zero fuss!
Sub your ingredients, if necessary. Fonda's recipe calls for fresh coriander (which is cilantro) but I was curious how this would taste with tarragon and a touch of dried coriander instead. The two can be interchangeable and I'm all for a delicious experiment. Luckily, this one panned out. Other variations included using fresh tomatoes over sun-dried, however, that swap may make your sauce a bit watery.
Save the extra sauce. This recipe makes quite a bit of corn sauce, which was absolutely fantastic over butter lettuce the next day as a lunchtime salad.
