Salmon Burgers

I had a rare "kid-free" day yesterday and almost didn't know what to with myself.  Except for the fact that I had a million errands to run, which actually was pretty painless without an antsy, grabby, two- year- old in tow.  And in the afternoon I got to spend time with friends, and amidst our gabbing, time got away from me.  Before I knew it, it was 5:45 and I got a text from the hubby along the lines of, "What's for dinner, AJ's hungry."  Eh.  So I raced home, put a bunch of stuff in the food processor, and dinner was served.  (That's the abbreviated version, but truly, it was that easy.)  My point being, this is another super quick and easy meal to put together.

More backgound info... in my attempt to incorporate more fresh fish into our diet, I've been doing a little experimenting. We're not usually big salmon lovers in my house, mainly because it has a stronger fish flavor than we like, but I really wanted to find a way to make it because it's generally pretty easy to cook with, and it has so many health benefits.  Our grocery store had some beautiful Alaskan wild salmon priced decently this week ( a little over $4 for 1/2 pound)  so I bought a pound and decided to try to make salmon burgers.  

I browsed the internet for the best recipe for salmon burgers, and adapated my own from what I found.  I based it off of one I liked the best, from Serious Eats Recipes, which originally came from Bitten. 

I realized as I was getting all the ingredients out that I had run out of breadcrumbs and forgotten to pick more up at the store.  In my typical fashion, I scourged the pantry for a substitute and found a sleeve of Carr's Water Crackers, Herb flavor.  I tossed them in the food processor, et voila... perfect breadcrumbs!

After all was said and done, I loved these burgers and found the flavor not to be too strong.  The lemon/parsley/mayo is a must, so do make it.  It adds a great tangyness.  I also am hooked on the Punalu'u sweetbread hamburger buns (mainlanders, it's like King's Hawaiian rolls, hamburger bun style!) and these add a nice balance of sweetness.  I served the burgers with baked sweet potatoes.

Enjoy!

Salmon Burgers

 Ingredients

• 1 lb boneless, skinless salmon fillets
• 2 tbs Dijon mustard
• 1/2 white or yellow onion
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tbs olive oil

For Mayo

• 1/3 cup mayo
• 1 bunch of chopped parsley
• juice of 1/2 lemon

Preparation

1. Cut the salmon into large peices and place in food processor, along with dijon mustard and onion.  Process until the mixture becomes pasty, scraping down the sides as necessary.  (Think of ground beef consistency)
2. Turn out the mixture into a bowl and mix with breadcrumbs by hand.  Season with salt and pepper and shape into four patties.
3. Heat oil in skillet on medium high.  Once the skillet is hot, place patties inside and cook 2-3 minutes on each side, until patties feel firm in the middle.
4. Stir together the mayo, lemon juice and parsley and serve burgers on a bun.

Girly Grillin'... Burgers and Bacon

Holy Moses, am I excited about this post!  Yes, I like to cook healthy foods, but this would not be the "southern spoon" without a little bacon.  Please.  However, there are a couple ways you can make some dinner basics healthier and much less boring.

As you already know, I love avocado.  Thankfully avocados grow in abundance here, so they are one of the only grocery items that can be bought in Hawaii without having to mortgage my house.  They also pack a lot of nutrition and healthy fats, so they have become a produce staple at our house. 

As you probably do, we have burgers for dinner every so often.  If you want to take the boring out of burgers (ie. iceberg lettuce, ketchup, mustard, blah...), put your burger on a bakery-style kaiser roll, top with leafy field greens (healthier, more antioxidants), a slice of tomato, and a thick slice of avocado.  Spread some aioli sauce (garlicky French mayonnaise) on the top bun, and enjoy your tres chic and healthier burger!  Here's a recipe for a basic aioli sauce:

Aioli Sauce (from www.easy-french-food.com)

Ingredients

1 clove garlic

2 pinches salt

2 egg yolks

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Preparation

1. Cut the ends off of the garlic, peel it, and either chop it or put it through a garlic press.
2. Put the garlic in a mortar and pestle with the salt and grind it into a paste.
3. In a heavy mixing bowl (one that won't scoot across the counter as you're mixing with one hand and pouring with the other), whisk (you can use an electric whisk) the egg yolks, lemon juice, and garlic mixture together until well combined, about one minute.
4. Start adding the olive oil, drop by drop, whisking all the while. You can add it a bit faster as you go along, but as with mayonnaise, the key to success is going very slowly at the start. When you are done adding the oil you can adjust the seasoning as suits your taste.

As for the bacon element of this post, jazz up a standard BLT with a slice of avocado and aioli sauce instead of plain mayo.  So much better!




Stuffing my face with a BLT at the Waimea Farmers' Market... local bacon, homemade "malasada style" Kaiser roll, aioli sauce.  The only thing that would have made it better is some yummy avocado!


And of course, it wouldn't be burger night without fries to go with it.  If you have 5 minutes to spare, please please please do not buy the frozen french fries!  Pick up a bag of new potatoes (the small red ones) and make my recipe for Roasted Parmesan-Rosemary Potatoes.  I make these every time... delicious and significantly less sodium and fat than freezer fries.

Roasted Parmesan-Rosemary Potatoes (Meredith's version)

Ingredients

• 2 lbs new potatoes, quartered
• Olive oil
• Rosemary (fresh or dried)
• Grated parmesan
• Kosher salt
• Ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Place quartered potatoes in a large mixing bowl and toss to coat with olive oil, rosemary, grated parmesan and a dash of coarse Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.  (This is to taste... you probably will only need a couple tablespoons of each.... just eyeball it.)
2. Spread potatoes on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray.
3. Bake for 20 minutes, or until brown and tender.  Stir at the halfway point.