Every once in a while I’ll go to the supermarket and see random canned goods on sale and I’ll stock up for a “rainy day”. There are very few things that I enjoy out of a can. Italian sodas, coconut juice, baked beans (heinz or bush’s), some varieties of tuna and beans if I’m lazy (I prefer the overnight soak method… less salt and scum). When I was living in NYC I would always see cans of salmon on sale for $1/can. A dollar! A can! So one day I bought a few not being too sure of what to do with them. I couldn’t really see myself whipping up salmon sandwiches so the search began for a useful way to use up mechanically separated salmon bits.
The answer: Salmon Cakes! courtesy of Canadian Living Magazine. Canadian Living isn’t usually one of my sources for recipes. They are oversimplified and dumb down “ethnic” recipes with easily accessible “Western” ingredients. Not that there’s anything wrong with that but I just don’t think that spaghetti noodles are a good substitute for rice noodles in pad thai. But maybe that’s just me.
But give CL a pretty tradition recipe and they can do a good job. The great thing about this recipe is that if you have some canned salmon in your cupboard you’re pretty much set to go… with the exception of cilantro, I never have that just hanging around. It’s a great lazy weeknight meal but manages to be pretty satisfying. My only issue is that I’m never quite sure what to serve salmon cakes with. this time around I made some broccoli rabe because I had some in my fridge. But what’s another way to go? Maybe wild rice or something? There are already potatoes in the salmon cakes so a side of potatoes (or even another starch really) seems kind of excessive. Thoughts?
Salmon Cakes
Ingredients:
2 large potatoes (1 lb/500 g)
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped fresh coriander
1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) each grated lemon rind, pepper and hot pepper sauce
1 egg, beaten
2 cans (each 7.5 oz/213 g) salmon, drained and flaked
2 tbsp (25 mL) vegetable oil
4 lemon wedges
Preparation:
Peel and cut potatoes in half crosswise. In 6-cup (1.5 L) microwaveable dish, cover and microwave potatoes with 1 cup (250 mL) water at High for 10 minutes or until tender. (Or cover and cook in saucepan of boiling salted water for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.) Drain.
In large bowl, mash potatoes until smooth; stir in onions, coriander, mustard, salt, lemon rind, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Blend in egg. Fold in salmon. Let cool for 5 minutes.
Using hands, shape into eight 3/4-inch (2 cm) thick patties.
In large nonstick skillet, heat half of the oil over medium heat; cook 4 of the patties for about 5 minutes per side or until golden. Repeat with remaining patties.
Serve with lemon wedges.
