This tart cherry glazed salmon is broiled to perfection with a tart and slightly sweet caramelized cherry exterior. It’s a great way to get all the superfood benefits of wild salmon with the recovery and sleep benefits of tart cherries.
Anyone that knows me, even just fairly well, knows I am not a morning person.
I’ve always said sleep is the best part of my day and besides a handful of epic days in my lifetime, I stand by that statement.
There’s not one night I don’t get in bed and feel instantly happy about the comfort of my mattress, huge comfy down comforter and 1000 thread count sheets (low thread count sheets are the devil in disguise).
The longer I can stay in that bed, the better, so mornings have never been my thing.
To the people that have to brave them starting in the 5 and 6 o’clock hour for work, I truly feel sorry for you.
And for the people that choose to wake up in the 4 and 5 o’clock hours to workout before work, I honestly don’t think we’re the same species or, at minimum there’s got to be some genetic mutation going on in one of us because the thought of that just doesn’t even compute in my brain.
Soooo…sleep.
Not only do I want a lot of it, I want it to be good too. I’ll leave the glaringly obvious sexual connotation of that statement unsaid and move on…
Here’s the thing though, Ulysses’ schedule ever since being in law enforcement greatly impacts both of those things.
His favorite shift ends at 12am and on a good day that means he’s home at 12:40am.
However, most days, some sort of overtime goes down and his arrival time is anywhere from 1am-4am usually without any forewarning to me.
With a normal bedtime of about 11:30pm, this is a big deal for my sleep schedule because going to bed at my normal time means I’m usually not “deep” enough asleep by a 12:40am arrival and get woken up by the garage door only to have to then wait for him to greet Ginger (who goes nuts after not seeing him for 12+ hours), eat something, come upstairs, shower and then eventually climb into bed about 45 minutes later.
Even with the white noise of the oil diffuser, the white noise app on my phone and the central A/C, I still wake up.
If he’s late due to overtime, you’d think it’d be better since I’d have a chance to be “fully” asleep but it’s not because it’s like my subconscious knows he’s not home and keeps waking me up every 20-30 minutes to look over to his side of the bed to see if he’s come home yet.
No matter how much I try to tell it to shut up, it just doesn’t.
Needless to say, his favorite shift is my least favorite.
I’ve already told you about some of the awesome things about tart cherries like their anti-inflammatory effects to aid in exercise recovery but get this, they’re also a natural source of melatonin which may help improve the quality and duration of sleep.
Um, perfect.
So this seemed like the perfect opportunity to take the Tart Cherry Juice Sleep Challenge.
For two weeks straight, I drank a serving of tart cherry juice (either 8 ounces of the juice or 2 tablespoons of the concentrate) in the morning and at night.
Sometimes I’d blend it into smoothies, sometimes I did shots of the concentrate (I love tart, lip puckering flavors so this was my favorite!), but mostly, I’d just dilute both with water and drink normally.
At the end of the challenge, I can say that I definitely felt less disrupted in my sleep.
I didn’t necessarily sleep longer (however, that’s not something I’ve ever had a problem with) but I did feel like the quality of my sleep improved a bit and I’ll take anything I can get in that department especially on the 12am shift nights.
I’m planning on continuing the tart cherry juice sleep challenge for as long as I can so I’m trying to get a bit more creative in how I get my tart cherry juice servings in.
This tart cherry glazed salmon seemed like a great way to incorporate all the benefits of the tart cherry juice (this sheet pan turmeric salmon with tart cherry sauce is also a great option!) without having to drink it at night.
Not to mention tart cherries pairing up with a superfood like wild salmon can only be good for you no matter which way you look at it.
You can also find more tart cherry recipes right here with this slow cooker chocolate cherry steel cut oatmeal, these cherry power cookies or, this chicken cherry flatbread.
FOR MORE SALMON RECIPES, TRY THESE:
Baked wild sockeye salmon
Seared salmon with tomato corn salsa
Sriracha honey salmon vegetable packets
Maple mustard air fryer frozen salmon or keep the air fryer out and give these salmon bites a try instead.
Tart Cherry Glazed Salmon
Ingredients
- 1 cup tart cherry juice
- 3/4 cup tart cherry juice concentrate
- 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- 1 pound wild salmon
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon chipotle pepper, *optional
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika, *optional
Instructions
- Combine the tart cherry juice, concentrate, Dijon mustard, honey and apple cider vinegar in a small sauce pot. Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and let cook for about 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally until mixture has reduced by almost half. Turn off the heat, pour into a bowl and refrigerate for about an hour until thickened.
- Preheat oven to broil. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and grease with baking spray. Lay the salmon filet on the baking sheet, drizzle the olive oil on the salmon, season generously with salt and pepper. Add the chipotle pepper and smoked paprika if using.
- Broil the salmon for about 8 minutes. Remove from oven and brush the glaze all over the salmon. Return to the oven and broil 1-2 more minutes until glaze thickens and starts to caramelize. Remove from the oven and use the extra glaze for serving.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
*This post is sponsored by the Cherry Marketing Institute. All opinions and content are my own.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
my husband has horrible sleep issues, I’m sharing this with him!!
I’m with ya on not being a morning person! This recipe is great. I never would’ve thought to pair salmon with cherry.
Wow a cherry glaze? That is something I never have tried before.. but I sure do love tart flavours so I have to try it!
Girl, I am with you. Sleep is one of my favorite things, and has been ever since I was born a bit premature (my mom maintains my love of sleep is due to my preemie status). My mind boggles that people actually wake up before sunrise to work out. We are NOT the same species.
I had no idea that cherries had natural melatonin! Fresh cherries are one of my very favorite things in the summer, but it sounds like I need to grab a bottle of tart cherry juice to keep on hand. I’ve been having a heck of a time falling asleep in the last few weeks, so this post couldn’t have come at a better time!
the recipe looks amazing and the photos are beautiful!
This is insane! I my gosh, I am in love with the reduction!!
This looks fantastic – I’m a huge fan of tart cherries, so this is right up my alley! I used to suffer from terrible insomnia, and was really surprised to hear that tart cherries can help with that as well (yay for natural sleep aids!). That sounds like a really rough schedule between the two of you…glad you found something to help a bit!
I have horrible sleeping issues and tart cherry juice in my fridge. Time to give it a try.
I am totally fascinated. I am a horrible morning person and my husband is even worse! Every since having a child, I hear every single noise and she is 8 yrs old now. You would think I would get over it. I am going to hut down some tart cherry juice for sleep and on this divine salmon.
I SO get weird sleep schedules. My hubby does 12 hour graveyards, 6 days in a row, which means he comes home at all sorts of weird hours too. Annoying.
On a lighter note, this salmon sounds AMAZING! I have been eating a ton of salmon lately, and that glaze takes it over the edge! Pinned!