HEY GUYS!
Okay super excited about this post. These recipes came out AMAZING and full disclosure, it was my first time making both so I was a bit skerred!
So back story here: when we moved into our current house we were overjoyed by the existence of a very plentiful lemon tree in our backyard. We personally have and are growing a peach tree and a lime tree but they are not yet producing fruit. So I quickly started fantasizing about all the amazing lemony things I could make. Lemonade, lemon chicken, lemon popsicles, lemon margaritas. (And make all those things I did!) but recently, and for an unknown reason to us, the tree has been dropping its fruit like crazy. So I’ve been feverishly looking up recipes to use lemon juice in my cooking, while Lars (the BF) searches cocktails that do the same. (FYI our rule/m.o. is I make the food, he makes the booze.) So here we are, long story semi short, with life handing us quite a few lemons!
Second back story here: while I love seafood, I am deathly allergic to quite a few types, mainly shellfish (crab, lobster, eel, crawfish etc.) So I never became an experienced cooker or consumer of seafood. In our quest to eat more healthy, however, I am turning more and more to seafood as a substitute for red meat. So when my lemon food search yielded the result of Lemon Salmon Cakes, I said, here goes nothing! I am happy to report it was a success! While heavy on the prep side, this recipe was actually very easy and the actual cooking was very quick. Hope you guys have the same luck as I did with this one:
Ingredients:
1lb boneless salmon filet (really has to be boneless), 4 scallions, 2tbsp fresh thyme, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp red pepper, ground, 1 tbsp salt, 1 dash salt and pepper, 1 1/2 cups panko, 3 tbsp butter, juice of 2 lemons.
Edits: I didn’t have any panko on hand so I combined regular bread crumbs and flour. The only difference is that the cakes come out slightly more crispy with the panko. The taste was unaffected. I also, in the spirit of healthy eating, reduced the butter to 1 1/2 tbsp and supplemented with olive oil.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED!
Let’s get cooking!
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PREP TIME COOK TIME TOTAL TIME
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90 mins 16 mins 1 hour 40 mins
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Instructions:
1. Melt the butter in hot skillet over medium heat. When melted add olive oil to ensure entire pan is coated. Sprinkle the salmon with a dash of salt and pepper. Sear the salmon in the skillet – at this point it is not necessary that it cooks ALL the way through, although it should be semi cooked before removing it from the heat. Allow to cool.
(Click on photos to enlarge.)
2. Once the salmon has cooled, break salmon into small pieces and place them into a large bowl.
(No skin should go into the bowl.) Add the following ingredients to the bowl: 2 beaten eggs, juice of 1 lemon, 4 finely chopped scallions, salt and pepper, thyme, red pepper, and panko (or bread crumb/flour substitute.) Stir until well combined. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
3. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, portion out your salmon cakes into patties and pack tightly. Refrigerate for an additional 30 minutes.
4. Heat pan again, adding some additional olive oil. Add patties and cook until they turn golden brown, approximately 5 minutes per side. Remove from heat, serve hot with lemon juice on top.
YAY!!!
I served mine over sautéed beet greens and beet chips! Our CSA always gives us lots of beets. I LOVE BEETS. I know a lot of people do not, but in all fairness farm fresh beets are nothing like those nasty canned beets we were served as kids. I have put them in salads, candied them with brown sugar, and stewed them into a winter minestrone. The only downside to beets is they are messy, so after cutting them immediately wash your hands and your cutting board. Only recently did I learn you can also eat the beet greens. These have been routinely making it to our compost bin, but last night I decided to saute them in some paprika and coriander and serve them up hot!
Here’s what you’ll need:
Ingredients: beets (as many as you want, depending on how many chips you want, rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, olive oil.
PREP TIME COOK TIME TOTAL TIME
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20 mins 40 mins 1 hour
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(Now again, this may feel like a lot of prep and a lot of cooking time, but I worked on the beets while the salmon was refrigerating for its various 30 minute intervals. The 2 dishes really worked well together prep wise.)
1. Preheat over to 375 degrees.
2. Slice beets as THINLY as possible, the thinner the better. I do not have a mandolin (BUT I WANT ONE) so my beets were not as thinly sliced as I’d want. The thinner they are, the more chip-like and crispy they’ll be at the end. However, I will say, no matter the thinness, they will come out tasty and bomb! 🙂 — don’t forget to save the leaves/greens.
3. Divide between two baking sheets and spray or very lightly drizzle with olive oil. Add a pinch of salt, the rosemary, and the thyme.
4. Bake for 20- 40 minutes or until crispy and slightly brown. Be sure to watch closely so they do not burn. Again the thinner they are, the less time they’ll need to bake. The thicker, the longer they’ll need to bake. I removed mine from the oven at about 30 minutes and really they could have cooked probably another 10 – 15 minutes for maximum crispiness.
While the beets baked, I through the leaves/greens into a pan and sautéed on medium heat with olive oil, paprika and coriander.
Then put it all together on the plate and serve it up!
WOO HOO!
I loved every bit and bite of this meal. Lars was not a fan of the beet greens, but to be fair, he dislikes all cooked greens (what’s wrong with him?!) They are a little bitter, so eating them raw may not be a great idea, but cooked up in some seasonings, I quite liked them.
We’ve got some left over cakes, so I’m going to serve them up this morning for brunch with a poached egg and some Hollandaise sauce – YUM!
Finally Tally
Number of store bought items – 5
Number of farm fresh items- 6
Please feel free to comment and share with any feedback!
HAPPY EATING! :)))
Cooking through the seasons: the adventures of a San Diego Gastronaut. 