Old Fashioned Salmon Cakes - It's What to do with Leftover Salmon!!!!

My ex Mother-in-Law used to make these and I remember going over to her house the first time she made them and dreading sitting down to eat. I grew up hating fish for dinner, between the Fridays of Lent, fish sticks, and the dreaded whole cooked fish fresh caught by my dad on Lake Michigan that day (believe me, as a kid a whole cooked fish sitting on the table is not a welcome sight.) I've never been a fan of fish for dinner no matter HOW good it is for you. But as I've aged and started learning about the benefits of Omega 3s, I've been trying to cook more fish. Especially salmon, since that's the most satisfying to me and loaded with Omega 3s.

BUT, if I don't buy the tiny amount fresh at the farmer's market (expensive for such a small amount), I buy the packaged wild caught Alaska salmon at Trader Joe's which is two HUGE fillets. Even though I would be MORE than happy to eat a whole gigantic fillet without a problem, I'm trying to watch portions, so end up with leftovers. Especially if my equally non-fish-loving husband decides to make a frozen pizza instead. Unless I put it in a salad for lunch the next day, it's not very appealing to eat leftover salmon, so remembering the old days at my ex mother-in-law's and I looked up a salmon cake recipe. I'm HOOKED!

Even if your family LOVES broiled/grilled salmon for dinner, consider cooking extra to make these either the next day or freeze the cooked salmon and make the cakes another time. I've made the recipe a little more paleo-friendly (paleo mayo and gluten free panko). It's not 100%, but it's pretty close for those of you who are not 100% paleo like me. These are really tasty when you're hankering for something lightly fried and salty for dinner and really great heated up with salad and 1/2 sweet potato the next day for lunch.

Yumskells!!!! Enjoy!

Local Fresh Seafood!

I tend to order fatty fish and shellfish when I go out to eat to get my Omega 3s and B12 more easily since I don’t often make these things at home. This picture was from a lunch ordered on a coastal bike ride recently. Yum! I guiltily ate a little local sourdough with it. Who could resist with that butter sauce!!

Getting your Omega 3s and vital B12 through fatty fish and shellfish on a regular basis is not easy. Adding in wanting it to be local, quality and sustainably caught makes it even harder and my local Farmer's Market source often sells fish from Alaska or Washington State. Often when I'm out to eat I try to order some kind of fatty fish or shellfish knowing I don't often have it at home for these reasons.

I read this article on the KQED blog and was excited about the CSA (community supported agriculture) concept spilling into the market for seafood. Though this article is bay area specific, I would bet the concept is catching (no pun intended) on in other parts of the country as well! 

I'm going to try The Sea Forager and next time my fisherman brother is in town plan on taking him on one of the Forager Tours!