50 States Sandwich Challenge: Alaska

 Alaska.  The largest U.S. state by area, almost tripling Texas' square milage, but also the most sparsely populated state with an estimated population of 738,432 which is roughly the population of Essex County, New Jersey (square milage way less than Alaska or Texas).  Half of that population lives in the Anchorage metropolitan area where Balto the sled dog remains their most worshiped resident. (Sorry, Sarah Palin.) So what do you eat in a place where the sun doesn't rise for 2 months? The answer lies with Alaska's rich indigenous history.  Alaska's indigenous population is proportionately the highest of any U.S. state at over 15% with 20 different languages being spoken in the state.  With most of the land unable to yield crops, the foundation of substinance has always been from the many rivers, streams, and Pacific waters, specifically salmon, who's life cycle brings them in contact with almost all of the waterways in Alaska.  You won't find another place in North America that has an abundance of all five species of salmon (King, Sockeye, Coho, Pink, and Chum) like in Alaska.  It's only natural that the state sandwich of Alaska is a salmon sandwich.  Since no one really "invented" the salmon sandwich, the recipe I'll use today will be coming from the Wild Alaska fisherman website.  This one is again a very easy sandwich to make, let's do it.  

Ingredients

• ½ cup low-fat mayonnaise
• 1 Tablespoon fresh lime juice
• ½ teaspoon celery salt
• 4 ciabatta or hard sandwich rolls
• 4 Alaskan Salmon fillets (4 to 6 oz. each), fresh, thawed or frozen
• 1 Tablespoon olive, canola, peanut or grapeseed oil
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 4 leaves butter or curly leaf lettuce

1. Take a small bowl and blend the mayo, lime juice, and celery salt (I added some dill seeds as well) to set aside. 

2. Brush both sides of your salmon filet with oil, season with salt and pepper, and place it on a heated grill or skillet.  Cook uncovered for about 3-4 minutes. 

3. Turn salmon over, add chopped green onions to bottom of the pan, cover, and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes.   

4. Blend your cooked green onions into the mayo mixture from step one and thinly spread on each side of your toasted ciabatta roll.  Place a salmon filet onto the roll and top with some mayo.  Add lettuce.  And there you have it, salmon sandwich.