Salmon Cakes ( and other Salmon ideas)

I hate to admit it, but I really don’t like Salmon!  I have tried it every which way and still don’t really love it.  The best I have done is based on the advise of an intern of mine from Alaska who so wisely said “treat your salmon like steak, not fish.  Forget the lemon and put on some steak marinade.”  I have marinated it with a combo of soy sauce, worshestshire (I can neither say nor spell this!), onion, garlic, oil and balsamic vinegar and grilled it.  I did sort of enjoy this, but barely.

But, we all know it is SO healthy!  So, I am determined to eat it as much as we can!  First, google “farm raised vs. wild caught salmon” to make your decision about what to buy.  After reading much about it, I buy only wild caught!  Either way…you will also want to pay attention to whether it has skin or not.  I greatly prefer it to have the skin already removed (recall my earlier post about my not so great knives).  But, I found a trick (more below).  Here you go:

Salmon

·      This can either be already cooked and left over a day or 2 in the fridge or fresh.  If the skin is on, I put a little oil in the pan and turn it on fairly high.  Once heated, put the salmon skin down for 3-4 minutes only.  When you pick it up, the skin comes off easily and the fish is only barely cooked.

·      Put the salmon in a large bowl.

Any veggies you prefer

·      I usually shred or cut up very small: zucchini, yellow squash, red pepper, onion, spinach, kale, carrots, sweet potatoes (really yummy!) – truly whatever you have and want to include.

Herbs – Anything you have that is fresh (I don’t like garlic with this!) and salt and pepper.

Several Eggs – I recently cooked up about 4 pounds of salmon and used 4 eggs. 

 You can add cream, cream cheese, cheese…if you like.  I don’t.   Add mayo if you like.

If you like, any grain you like.  You can use cooked rice, crushed tortilla chips (yum!), crushed corn cereal, crushed saltines….

·      Put plastic gloves on and mush it all together pretty well!

·      I use a pancake griddle, but you can use a large, flat pan too.  Spray or use butter or oil of choice.  Heat to 350-400 degrees.  Form into small patties and fry up on both sides. 

·      I end up putting so much veggies in these that we eat only this for dinner sometimes, but you can serve with veggies, grain….  If you have leftovers, this is really good on top of marinara sauce and noodles!