Salmon Cakes

YUMYUMYUMYUMYUM.

My formula for cooking seafood is as follows:
1) Look up an Ina Garten recipe
2) Follow exactly, except replace gobs of mayonnaise with plain yogurt. And use less butter.
3) If the recipe says to fry, bake instead.

And thus, we have Ina Garten's salmon cakes, with a few fewer calories.

I cannot resist the food-processed-veggies-waiting-to-be-sauteed shot.

We love these and I make them often. It's a great way to turn 1/2 pound of salmon into 5 meals and add lots of vegetables in the process. I assumed that I had blogged them already until I looked today. This post is long overdue.

I usually serve these over spinach salad or sometimes cooked spinach, with either honey-mustard or garlic-lemon-yogurt sauce. In the photo at the top, I served them with a sauce made from the zest and juice of 1/2 lemon, some veganaise, garlic powder, and salt. It was really really good.

Some tips on helping them hold together:

1) Make smaller patties

2) Be sure vegetables are minced REALLY small (I like to food-process them) and excess liquid is drained from them

3) Cook vegetables until they are completely softened

4) Don't skimp on the egg or bread crumbs

5) Put mixture in the refrigerator for an hour before forming patties

The Recipe:

1/2 lb salmon
1 tb butter
1 red onion, minced
4 stalks celery, with tops, minced
2 bell peppers (red, orange, and/or yellow), minced - optional (sometimes I leave these out)
1/4 c parsley, minced
1 tb capers, minced
1 tsp hot sauce
1 tsp worcestershire sauce
1 tsp cajun seasoning (I use Chachere's)
salt and pepper, to taste
1/2 c bread crumbs (panko or regular)
1/2 c plain yogurt
2 tsp mustard
2 eggs

• Sprinkle salmon with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until cooked through. Let cool, then flake apart. Be sure to remove any bones.
• Cook onion, celery, bell peppers, parsley, and capers in butter. Once softened, add cajun seasoning, season with salt and pepper, and add hot sauce and worcestershire sauce. Let cool.
• Mix salmon, cooked vegetables, bread crumbs, yogurt, mustard, and eggs. Optionally, refrigerate for up to an hour to let the mixture solidify a bit.
• Form small patties on a greased baking sheet. Spray the tops with baking spray.
• Bake at 400 for 20 minutes, carefully flip, and bake another 15-20 minutes.

The Verdict:

Overall grade: A+

Overall reason: An extremely delicious and cost-effective way to enjoy salmon

Time to prepare: 90 minutes, including baking time

Husband quote: "Yum! I love salmon in my crab cakes."