This Saturday, January 25, marks Grammy-winning songstress Alicia Keys’ thirty-second birthday. In honor of the Aquarian mama’s big day, we thought we’d share one of her favorite celebratory meals. Keys and her mother, Terria Joseph, love sitting down to a family dinner of maple soy salmon after a day of quality bonding over culinary feats: “It’s just so fun to listen to music and be in the kitchen all day creating this beautiful meal that everyone will eat together.”
Before we get to the recipe, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the singer’s latest achievement. On January 15, the newly knighted executive producer joined First Lady and close friend Michelle Obama (who, as chance would have it, recently celebrated her own January birthday) at the White House for a screening of Key’s passion project The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete. The film, which Keys funded and scored, tells the heartwrenching (FLOTUS admitted she wept during her first viewing) coming-of-age tale of two inner-city boys. Left to fend for themselves after their mothers are taken into custody, the pair struggle to keep their heads above water over the course of a New York City summer.
Obama praised Keys for her “eloquence, and her foresight in seeing the value of this movie and investing in it.” FLOTUS, meanwhile, did her part by screening the movie for education “stakeholders” to spread word of her new initiative to up the number of college-educated Americans. “I’m going to be doing my very best to promote these efforts by talking directly with young people. That’s my focus. Everybody else is going to be talking about resources, but the one thing I can bring to this is the message that we can give directly to young people. I’m going to be conveying the simple truth—I’m going to tell them that they have everything they need to succeed already. It’s all in there, but they still have to be committed to getting their educations,” stated the First Lady.
Here’s hoping that by the year 2020 the majority of 32-year-olds in the United States hold a college degree. But in the meantime, some brain food:
Alicia Keys and Her Mom Terria Joseph’s Maple Soy Salmon
Serves 8
Ingredients:
8 6-oz. salmon fillets
1 lemon, cut into wedges
4 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. garlic powder
¾ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. onion powder
1/8 tsp. black pepper
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup grade-B maple syrup
Directions:
1. Rinse and dry salmon fillets; rub each with lemon wedge. Brush 2 tsp oil on the flesh side of salmon (to help seasoning adhere).
2. In bowl, mix nutmeg, cinnamon, garlic powder, salt, onion powder and black pepper. Sprinkle each fillet with spice mix; let sit covered in fridge for 1 hour.
3. Heat skillet and coat bottom with 2 tsp oil.
4. When oil is hot, place salmon in skillet, flesh side down, and cook over high heat for about 4 minutes or until brown. Turn over and cook for an additional 4 minutes.
5. In a saucepan, mix together soy sauce and maple syrup over medium heat until sauce is think enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 7 to 10 minutes).
6. Drizzle sauce over salmon fillets and serve.