Salmon Melts

I like to melt cheese on anything, therefore being able to eat salmon, a Powerfood, and then melt some cheese on it, made it me a happy little cook.  The original recipe in The Best of Clean Eating states that the recipe yields 6 sandwiches.  I'm not sure what 3 year old is eating these sandwiches, but there is no way this amount of meat yields six servings. I will say you can get four good servings out of this dish, and remember, when you get your fish, it's weighed with the skin on, so get a little over half a pound.  

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Salmon fillet

1 large Carrot, peeled and shredded

2 Celery Stalks, trimmed and diced

1 Medium yellow onion, finely diced

6 oz. nonfat plain Greek yogurt

2 tsp. Dijon mustard

3/4tsp dried dill

Zest of 1/2 lemon

Juice of 1/2 lemon

1/4 tsp. Spanish paprika

Seas salt and fresh ground black pepper

8 slices of Food for Life Sprouted 7 Grains Bread

1 Roma tomatoes, sliced

4 Slices low-fat Provolone cheese

Cook your salmon fillet in a non-stick skillet on medium, meat side down, for two minutes.  Flip and cook skin side down for two minutes (you can do longer if you prefer your meat cooked all the way through).  Remove the fillet from the skillet, let the meat cool, and remove the skin and discard.  

In a large bowl, use a fork to flake the salmon.  Add the carrot, celery and onion to the salmon.  Stir to combine.  

In a medium bowl, whisk together yogurt, mustard, dill, lemon zest and juice and paprika.  Season with salt and pepper.  Pour yogurt mixture over salmon-vegetable mixture and stir until well-combined.  

Toast your bread in the toaster, and preheat your broiler to high.

Arrange the bread on a baking sheet, and divide the tomato slices evenly among the bread slices.  Top eat slice with the salmon-vegetable mixture, dividing evenly.  Place the cheese slices on top of the salmon mixture.  Broil on high for three minutes.  Remove from heat, top with four remaining slices of toast and serve immediately.  

When I used the left over meat for these sandwiches, I actually saved it in a tupperware, and then repeated the prep and broiling process before I ate it again.  I would suggest this approach if you think you're going to reuse your left overs in this fashion, because it will keep your bread from getting soggy and mushy.  The meat itself is fantastic should you decide to have a sandwich one day, and then place it on top of a salad the next.  

Super-Easy Walnut Crusted Salmon

Ahh, salmon, we meet again.  In looking to always change up my salmon prep for dinner, I came across a couple of recipes that used a walnut crust, and an almond flour crust.  I had traditionally cooked salmon either by itself, or brushed with this awesome agave nectar with a little salt and pepper, but I was looking forward to trying something with a little more crunch, and a little more warmth.  This was super easy, and took almost no time.  

Ingredient List:

1/2 lb. salmon filet

1/8 c. of chopped walnuts

Dash of cinnamon

Most people expect that in order to put a crust on a protein you need to do an egg wash, or something wet in order to get the nuts or flour to stick.  Salmon, luckily, tends to be on the moist side, so there was really no need to dip the filet in any eggs.  All you need to do is chop the walnuts however fine you like the texture, dip the salmon in the nuts and press down to make them stick, sprinkle some cinnamon on top, primarily to add some warmth to the dish, and place in a non-stick sprayed pan, pre-heated to medium.  Sear on each side until the salmon is cooked to your liking.

I often prepare a green side dish with my salmon, but choose whatever you like to pair with your fish.  I'm lucky enough to have some really great pans to steam my greens really easily, so I tend to throw them on with a little seasoning and just leave them until my steam pan screams at me and tells me their done. Pick something relatively easy so you feel like you're getting a fancy dish, but you're really not doing a whole lot of work with either your protein, or your side dish! 

Salmon Cakes with Steamed Broccoli

How much grilled/pan seared salmon can one person really eat?  I swear to the food gods, that my husband and I ate salmon fillets every week, once a week, for two months straight.  We pan seared it with seasonings, we grilled it with seasoning and agave nectar, we put it on salads.  I mean seriously, at some point, you look at that salmon fillet and you actually passionately hate it's existence, even if you love the flavor.  

So, in not wanting to hate my salmon anymore, I started brain storming how I could turn salmon into a "cake" and pan sear it that way.  I work in a restaurant that makes crab cakes, so I started here, and talked to the prep-cook Katie (the poor thing has probably hand made a few thousand crab cakes), about what ingredients I should put in.  I then researched other recipes online to see how other people were cleaning up their own salmon cakes.  What came to be MY salmon cake was a combination of ideas.

I start with a 3/4 lb. piece of raw salmon that has been skinned and cubed.  I puree it in a food processor to a consistency that I like.  In a bowl I whisk together two egg whites, 1 tbsp. of Fat Free Greek yogurt, 1 tbsp. of Dijon mustard, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and fresh cut parsley.  I then add the salmon to the bowl, as well as 1/4 c. of Panko bread crumbs (do some serious label reading on the Panko that you pick out.  So many of them have enriched products and added sugar.  Avoid these at all cost!).  

I hand mix all the ingredients together, and decide at this point whether or not the consistency is dry enough to form cakes, or if I should add more Panko.  It may take more depending on the moisture in your piece of salmon, however, you don't want it to be over dry, just firm enough to form a patty out of the mix. Use non-stick spray in a pan heated to medium, and sear the cake on each side for about 4-5 minutes.  I like my salmon a little under-cooked, so you may want to keep it on a bit longer.  

For the sauce on top of the salmon cakes, I mix together 1/4 c. of Fat Free Greek yogurt with 1 tbsp. of fresh squeezed lemon, and salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic powder to taste.  I change the seasoning whenever I like, sometimes adding cumin, and other spices depending on what I'm in the mood for.  Definitely try different combinations and find the ones that you love!