Fresh green onions give Crunchy Salmon Cakes their appeal

Yesterday I mentioned the Crunchy Salmon Cakes that made such a great pairing with the Squash Salad featured in Tuesday’s blog. As far as I’m concerned, these fresh patties were put on the map with the fresh green onions that went inside them. In my lifetime I’ve made every version imaginable of salmon patties. I grew up on them—at least once a week they were a mainstay in my home. So I’ve been around the block a few times where this dish is concerned. But I can truthfully say that this recipe was my all-time favorite; the green onions represent the reason why.

I found this recipe in the June 2011 issue of Southern Living magazine after a reader posed the question, “How can I bring beach flavor to the dinner table?” With school back in full swing in most places and most everyone having bid farewell to summertime (all but the heat, which lingers–ugh!), the desire lives on to keep those beach memories alive through seafood suppers at home; hence, some seafood recipes were furnished. Though the original recipe, as it appeared in the magazine, was for crab cakes, I had in the fridge some fresh salmon and decided to sub it for the crab. Worked just fine.

Besides the chopped green onions, two more new ingredients to my typical salmon-pattie prep were diced pimento and Dijon mustard. SL called for panko breadcrumbs; I subbed some whole-grain breadcrumbs made from some day-old whole-grain bread I had on hand.

The magazine was right; the recipe absolutely brought reminders of a day at the beach. Hubby and I already had Galveston on our minds since yesterday was our wedding anniversary and we spent the first night of our honeymoon at the USS Flagship Hotel over the waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Sweet memories!

Crunchy Salmon Cakes

16 ounces fresh salmon filet, flaked

4 large lemons, divided

1 (4-ounce) jar diced pimiento, well-drained

2 green onions, chopped

1 large egg, lightly beaten (can use 1/4 cup egg substitute)

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 cup breadcrumbs, divided

1/4 cup canola oil

Flake salmon until it is ready to mix with other ingredients. (I cooked mine on high heat for about 2 minutes in the microwave to soften and make it more pliable.) Grate zest from 2 lemons to equal 2 teaspoons; cut lemons in half and squeeze juice into a measuring cup to equal 1/4 cup. Stir together lemon zest and juice, pimiento, and next 5 ingredients until all are well-bended. Gently fold in salmon and 1/2 cup breadcrumbs. Shape mixture into 8 patties. Dredge patties in remaining 1/2 cup breadcrumbs. Cook half of patties in 2 tablespoons hot oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until patties are golden brown; drain on a wire rack (or paper towel). Repeat procedure with remaining oil and patties. Cut remaining lemons into wedges. Serve salmon cakes with lemon wedges. Makes 8 servings.

Asian Salmon Burgers—a healthy twist to the burger "gotta-have"s

I’ve already established that I’m a nut-case for burgers. I acquired this tendency honestly. Practically until her dying day at 93 my mother had to have her cheeseburgers. If she knew I were heading out for an errand, she’d ask whether I’d be near a Burger Street or Braum’s so I could bring her back a juicy meat patty stuffed between two buns (always with onions). “And don’t hold the onions,” she’d instruct as I was about to walk out the door.

Burgers, however, get a bum rap these days. Greasy, juicy ground beef isn’t seen as the healthiest option. Fortunately other ways exist to help scratch the burger itch.

I loved this recipe for Asian Salmon Burgers that I found in Prevention magazine’s June issue.

Skinless salmon fillet along with bread crumbs, green onions, and several other ingredients are processed in a food processor until the mixture is coarsely chopped. Grilling in a large nonstick frying pan (coated with cooking spray) for about 10 minutes, 5 on each side, is a better alternative to using a countertop grill because it keeps the meat mixture from falling apart. A tip that appears in Prevention recommends holding off flipping a burger until it’s thoroughly ready; flipping too soon is what causes a burger to crumble.

We just loved these very different, healthy burgers with an Asian twist.

Asian Salmon Burgers

1 pound skinless salmon fillet, cut into chunks

1/4 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs

1 large egg white

2 large cloves garlic, chopped

2 teaspoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon dark sesame oil

2 green onions, chopped

4 tablespoons pickled ginger

2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds

1/4 cup baby spinach

4 whole-wheat buns, toasted

Put salmon, bread crumbs, egg, garlic, soy sauce, oil, green onions, and 2 tablespoons of the ginger in food processor. Pulse until coarsely chopped. Form into 4 equal patties. Sprinkle tops with sesame seeds. Heat large nonstick frying pan coated with cooking spray over medium heat. Put patties sesame-seed-side down in pan. Cook 5 minutes. Flip and cook until done, 5 minutes longer. Serve burgers on buns and top with spinach and remaining 2 tablespoons pickled ginger. Makes 4 servings.

Fresh green onions dress up this ketchup; put this totable chicken dish on the map

But it doesn’t have anything to do with eating the garden-fresh way, I protested to my daughter. My offspring was extolling the wonders of Chicken Fingers with Curry Ketchup, which I had served her and her family for the July 4th weekend. Not the easiest-pleased eater, she raved about this dish and remarked, “You are going to blog about this, aren’t you?”

“Can’t,” I replied. It didn’t feature a wonderland of fresh fruits or veggies. She countered that if my blog was to feature recipes that would tempt the palate, Chicken Fingers with Curry Ketchup would win hands-down. Finally we analyzed that the Curry Ketchup actually was put on the map by the chopped green onions contained therein. Good enough qualifier. So here goes.

The nuggets were oven-baked instead of fried, with high-fat breading replaced by crushed cereal crumbs. Chicken bits were dipped first in egg (or egg substitute) and then in a wonderful mixture of crushed chex cereal (I used Corn Chex but also have tried this with cornflake and crisp rice cereal crumbs), paprika, garlic powder, nutmeg, and cayenne. After being cooked over olive oil to soften, the green onions were mixed with curry powder and ketchup. The recipe was from a years-ago Family Circle magazine feature on family picnics and easy, totable foods that make a movable feast. Our lunch required only that we move the tenders from kitchen to back yard, but they could have gone anywhere and been enjoyed cold as well as hot from the oven.

Lest you think we’ve deviated from our goal here, I hasten to add that if you leave out those fresh-from-the-garden green onions in the Curry Ketchup, this meal will flop. Just plain ole ketchup straight from the bottle, without enhancements, never will do. Garden-fresh to the bone.

Chicken Fingers with Curry Ketchup

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 green onions, trimmed and sliced thin

1 teaspoon curry powder

1 cup ketchup (we used no-salt-added ketchup)

1 cup cornflake crumbs (or other crispy cereal)

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons paprika

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 eggs (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

2 pounds chicken tenders

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with nonstick foil (if you use regular foil, spray it thoroughly with cooking spray). In a small saucepan heat olive oil over medium heat. Add green onions; cook 2 minutes until onions are softened. Add curry powder; cook for 1 minute. Stir in ketchup; take off the heat. Cool, cover, and refrigerate ketchup mixture until ready to serve. In a shallow glass dish mix together crushed cereal crumbs, Parmesan cheese, paprika, garlic powder, nutmeg, and cayenne. In a second glass dish lightly beat eggs. Dip chicken pieces into egg and then into cereal mixture to coat completely. Place chicken on prepared baking sheet. Bake at 450 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when it is inserted into the thickest part of chicken. Remove from oven and cool. Makes 8 servings.

Once again, adding green onions blasts dish to the stars!

My fresh green onions have done it again. Remembering my Bistro Chicken Salad and how pulling a handful of green shoots from the soil and chopping them up for this dish brought enough zing to blast me to the stars, I just had to add them to a recent entree of Tuna Cakes with Creole Mayonnaise. Utter delight!

The Tuna Cakes recipe from Southern Living’s recent “No-Fuss Dinners” article appealed to me simply because of its title. Who doesn’t respond to a headline advertising easy meals that “take the pressure off weeknights”? Especially on days when I go sit with Grandmunchkin in the afternoons to help out his mommy, getting a quick meal on the table after I arrive home late is always a challenge. I also loved the idea of stirring up the zesty “Creole Mayonnaise”—regular fat-free mayo spiced up with Creole seasoning and lemon juice—as a topping. I always welcome suggestions about how to enhance a prosaic can of tuna fish.

After all that, however, the mixture still looked a little bland to me. That’s when I remembered our green onion rows that proudly wave in the March wind. I stepped to our backyard garden plot and pulled one that looked especially hardy. A thorough rinse, a few chops on the cutting board, a good stir into the tuna mixture, and this evening meal just took on new dimensions.

A word about the prosaic can(s) of tuna fish, however. The recipe below (originated from Southern Living, as I mentioned) calls for 2 extra-large cans of tuna or 5 of the small ones. I had only 2 small cans on hand, so I stirred it up with those 2 but stuck with the portions in the regular recipe. Even with this adaptation, the amount made 8 servings of nice-sized, flavorful patties—ample for a couple of good meals for me and Hubby.

Tuna Cakes with Creole Mayonnaise

2 (12-ounce) cans solid white tuna in spring water, drained well (5 5-ounce cans solid white

tuna in spring water, drained well may be substituted)

1 1/4 cups Italian breadcrumbs (I used two large slices of whole-wheat bread, pulsed them in a blender, and added 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning to make my crumbs instead of buying already-packaged ones)

2 large eggs, lightly beaten (or 1/2 cup egg substitute)

2 teaspoons lemon zest

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 cup fat-free mayonnaise, divided

1 1/4 teaspoons Creole seasoning, divided (I use the salt-free variety)

1 cup chopped fresh green onions

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon lemon juice

Drain and rinse tuna. Place tuna and breadcrumbs in a large bowl; stir in eggs, lemon zest, mustard, 1/3 cup mayonnaise, and 1 teaspoon Creole seasoning. Shape mixture into 8 (3-inch) patties. Cook 4 patties in 2 tablespoons hot oil in a large, nonstick skillet over medium-high heat 2 to 3 minutes on each side or until golden; drain on paper towels. Repeat with remaining tuna cakes and oil. Combine lemon juice and remaining 2/3 cup mayonnaise and 1/4 teaspoon Creole seasoning. Serve with hot tuna cakes. Makes 8 servings.