Salmon Cakes

Every Friday night, my kids trade off choosing the dinner menu.  This past Friday, Eli choose roasted salmon, roasted carrot soup, stuffed baked potatoes, and artichokes.  I was really happy with this choice. I always buy a little too much.  And as I have said before, I hate throwing food away.  


The next day I took the salmon, flaked it with a fork and whipped up some salmon cakes for lunch.  These are good hot, cold, room temperature.  They are just plain good.  Squeezed some lemon over them, served over field greens.  This is a great way to get a little extra protein into the kids. Plus, if I put it on a mini slider bun, and call it a salmon "burger", slather it with some homemade cocktail sauce, no one complains! It was a simple lunch on a perfect Saturday, shared with my delicious little family!


ingredients:
1/2 lb. cooked salmon
2 Tbls. unsalted butter
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 shallot diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
1 red pepper, diced
2 Tbls. italian parsley, chopped
1 Tbls. capers
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1-2 dashes Sriacha chili sauce
1-2 tsp. old bay seasoning
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
3 Tbls. dijon mustard
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
kosher salt
fresh gound pepper

instructions:
• in a large non-stick sauce pan, melt butter.  add onion, shallot, celery, pepper, capers, and parsley and saute for 10 minutes or until the veggies are soft.  Add the capers, worcestershire sauce, Sriacha, old bay,  1 teaspoon salt, and 10 grinds of fresh ground pepper.  saute for 1 more minute.  let cool
• with a fork, break apart the salmon.  put in a bowl.
• in a separate bowl, whisk the dijon, eggs, and egg yolks, until combined.  add this to the salmon.
• add the bread crumbs.  lastly, add the cooked veggies.
• cover and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.  once chilled, make into patties ( I use an ice cream scooper for size, then flatten and shape into patties).  Put on a small cookie tray and freeze for 10 minutes.  freezing them helps them to not fall apart.
• heat 2 Tbls. coconut oil in a large saute pan.  Saute the salmon cakes and fry until brown on one side.  flip and do the other side.  set on paper towels to drain while you make the remaining salmon cakes.
• I serve with fresh lemon wedges.

Homemade Bread Crumbs
• cut left over bread into cubes.  put in the bowl of a food process fitted with a metal blade. pulse.
• place crumbs on a large sheet pan and toast crumbs in a pre-heated 350* oven for about 5 minutes or until lightly golden brown.  these keep well in the freezer for up to 2 months.

Quinoa Falafels

In college, I discovered falafels.  I happen to be a lover of most things fried (unfortunately for me) and eating a falafel with tons of veggies and avocado makes devouring them a bit more acceptable. As I have mentioned in the past, I am a fan of Dave Lieberman and his book;  the 10 things you need to eat, makes me like him all that much more.

Dave taught me a thing or two about quinoa. Most recipes say a 2 to 1 ratio when making most grains.  Yet, with quinoa, this rule does not apply.  However, up until acquiring Dave's book, I was no good at making quinoa and basically, gave up.  His tip: use 1 1/4 cups water to 1 cup quinoa.  Genius!

I like to make a big batch of quinoa and keep it in the fridge.  Not only do I make these amazing falafel balls, but I also love to make quinoa cakes ( similar to a veggie patty) and the quinoa breakfast cereal (here).   The cooked quinoa can stay in the fridge, for about a week. The only down side to this recipe is that they have to be eaten within a short time of making them.  They get a little soggy and don't really keep their texture nor their taste. Too bad for Miguel.  He loves to take his lunch to work and this could be one of those perfect foods.

I like to serve them with fresh whole wheat pita, homemade hummus and a huge Israeli salad!  My kids have fallen in love with these.  And getting this kind of protein in them makes me very happy!

Quinoa + Chickpea Falafel
yield: 30 balls

ingredients:
1 cup chickpea flour
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1 Tbls. olive oil
1 1/4 cup boiling water
1 cup cooked quinoa
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. kosher salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
3/4 tsp. black pepper
canola oil for frying

instructions:
• combine chickpea flour, cumin, olive oil, and boiling water in large bowl. mix well with a fork to form a paste.  let sit for about 10 minutes.  add the remaining ingredients except for the canola oil.
• heat the canola oil in a small dutch oven ( i use a small le creuset) on medium heat ( you don't want to burn the oil).  using a deep frying thermometer, heat to 350*
• using a small, 1-2 tablespoon size ice cream scooper, scoop batter to make free formed balls and dump, gently into the hot oil. put 5-6 in the pot at at time.  you don't want to overcrowd the pan and you also don't want to reduce the heat of the oil. cook for about 5 minutes, turning once, until golden brown.
• drain on a paper towel lined baking sheet.  repeat with the remaining batter.
• serve at once.
• serve with warm pita, hummus, Israeli salad, eggplant dip, or whatever suits your fancy!

I like to make hummus and keep it in the house.  It is so inexpensive to make and literally takes 5 minutes from start to finish.  And in my opinion, the only way to make an Israeli salad is to chop the veggies really, really fine.  Keeping this on hand keeps me far away from the sweets!

Hummus
yield: 2 cups

ingredients:
1 15oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed twice (reserve the liquid)
1 tsp. kosher salt
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup tahini (sesame paste)
4 Tbls. freshly squeezed lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
1-2 Tbls. reserved liquid
several dashes of Sriracha (Asian hot sauce)
chopped parsley

instructions:
• put garlic in the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to chop.  add the rest of the ingredients and pulse until pureed.  taste for seasoning, add kosher salt and a little pepper to taste.  sprinkle with fresh, chopped parsley.  serve with toasted pita chips and cut up veggies.

Israeli Salad

ingredients:
• 3 Roma tomatoes
• 4 Persian cucumbers
• 1 red bell pepper
• 7 radishes
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 stalk of celery
• 2 Tbls. basil
• juice of one lemon
• dash or two of olive oil
• kosher salt, to taste

instructions:
• chop all veggies super small.  add to the bowl.
• squeeze lemon over veggies.  add olive oil and toss.
• season with salt to taste
• add basil right before eating!
paprika