Asian Salmon Cakes with Ginger-Sesame-Soy Sauce

A lot of people shun canned salmon. Canned tuna? Sure…we eat it on a sandwich with mayo, on an open face bun with melty cheese, or in a salad “nicoise” style with olives and potatoes. But canned salmon seems not to be as popular. Well, hopefully I can change your mind with this recipe. I’ve made salmon cakes in the past a la Giada with fresh salmon and a tangy lemon and caper yogurt sauce. And of course…nothing compares to the taste of fresh, perfectly cooked, salmon. But canned salmon is more affordable, so you can get your omega-3 fix without breaking the bank. These are also quite tasty with an incredible dipping sauce so you are not missing out.

Salmon Cakes with Ginger-Sesame-Soy Sauce (Adapted from Ellie Kreiger)

2 15 ounce cans of salmon, drained, skins and bones removed (if this scares you, you can buy it already boneless and skinless)

1 cup panko bread crumbs

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 chopped chopped cilantro

1/2 cup diced water chestnuts

1/2 tsp ground pepper

zest of 1 lemon

olive oil

Place salmon in a bowl and flake until it’s in small pieces. Add remaining ingredients and mix well.

Shape into 10 cakes and place in the fridge until firm and cold (about 30-60 minutes). Heat pan over medium high heat with a little olive oil and pan fry for about 5 minutes per side.

Ginger-Sesame-Soy Sauce

6 tbsp non fat Greek yougrt

2 tbsp mayo

1 tbsp freshly grated ginger

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp soy sauce

juice of 1 lemon

Mix all ingredients together and season with salt and pepper to taste.

Salmon cakes with ginger/sesame/soy sauce, kale salad, and roasted broccoli. Squeeze of lemon adds a nice touch!

Served with my favorite kale salad a la Northern Spy…combine chopped kale with 1/2 roasted butternut squash (cubed and roasted), 1/4 cup aged cheddar, 1/4 cup toasted walnuts, lots of lemon juice, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Honestly…a life changing salad to go with these salmon cakes that have hopefully also changed your mind about canned salmon.

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Oscar Inspired Dinner Party…Cheese, Beans and Greens, Popcorn, and Whoopie Pies!

Always looking for an excuse to get together with friends over good food (not that you need an excuse), the Oscars fit that bill perfectly. A friend and I decided to create an “oscar themed” dinner party and create a menu that represented the best picture nominees. Well, not all of them because that would be a lot of food for 5 dinner guests to consume! We had such a fun time planning the menu and an even better time eating all the food!

Caramel corn with cashews

We started things off with a Moneyball inspired, sweet and salty, caramel corn. My friend is not a peanut lover (can you believe she doesn’t like peanut butter?!) but her idea to replace the hated legume with cashews was a hit! We also had a fantastic cheese board (because cheese and caramel corn go together, right?) with a huge selection of French cheeses to represent Hugo and Midnight In Paris, and my homemade pretzel bites to represent NYC for Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Adam and I were lucky enough to walk away with A LOT of leftover cheese…you will be seeing it featured in a recipe next week…Get excited!

The southern themed Help had so many food options…chocolate pie was an obvious choice. But we had other ideas for dessert so I decided to take the main dish for this evening and went with this Black-Eyed Pea Cakes with Collard Greens recipe.

Topped with a yogurt-chipotle sauce (1/4 cup yogurt and 1 tsp adobo sauce)

The only problem was there were no black-eyed peas to be found! Black beans made the perfect substitute and these cakes had a fantastic texture and flavor. Some non-meat based patties don’t hold together very well but now I know a trick! Puree half of the beans with the rest of the ingredients, then add the other half and mix to form cakes. The puree portion really holds these together. I think I represented The Help quite well!

I think we were all a little bored with the Oscars. Don’t get me wrong…I love a good red carpet and opening monologue, but as the show dragged on, I felt my eyelids closing. Once my friend served her black and white dessert in honor of The Artist…I was wide awake!

Assembling the whoopie pie

Toasting the marshmallow/meringue filling

Homemade whoopie pie!!

That sweet, fluffy, marshmallow filling was soooo amazing! We were all just licking the bowl!! Just like The Artist, these whoopie pies were definitely the winner of the night!

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