Fast Food Mondays: Salmon Croquettes

Today I'm debuting a new weekly theme post: Fast Food Mondays. No, no, put down the car keys, toss that take out menu in the recycle bin, and put away your wallet. You DON'T need to go through the drive thru to come up with a fast family dinner solution for busy weekday nights. If you give it a try, I think you'll find that staying home and spending just a few minutes in the kitchen with common ingredients, you can have a satisfying dinner that doesn't break your budget or your eating plan.

Tonight we have Salmon Croquettes. One word: Delightful!
Isn't it true that some of the best creations come out of the most limited circumstances? When the refrigerator is looking sparse and the pantry is looking lean, all you need is a protein and Google to find a solution. Tonight our protein was a can of Alaskan pink salmon, and Google brought us to an outstanding index of canned salmon recipes at AlaskaSeafood.org. Inspired by several of the recipes found there, I came up with these truly delicious Salmon Croquettes. Time clocked from the can opener puncturing the lid, to a warm croquette sitting on my plate: twenty-five minutes. And that was without a prepared plan. With this as a guide, for you I'd say fifteen. So there you go: {real] fast food!

What you need:

• One 14.75 ounce can of Alaskan pink salmon, drained*
• 2 quail eggs (seriously!) OR 1 chicken egg OR 1 TB flax meal + 3 TB warm water, mixed and left for 5 minutes to gel
• 1/4 cup gluten free breadcrumbs**
• dried minced onion (approx 1 TB)
• dill (approx 1/2 TB)
• Dijon mustard (approx 1 TB)
• washed, chopped green onions (approx 1/4 cup)
• Lawry's seasoned salt (approx 1/2 TB)
• fresh ground black pepper (approx 1/2 tsp)

*You may pick out the salmon bones and skin to your satisfaction, but it is not necessary as the salmon is pressure cooked in the can. That process makes the bones and skin very soft and easily digestible. Leaving the bones in adds a great deal of calcium to your dish!
**Ener-G Foods makes a good gluten free variety for these purposes

What you do:

Using a fork, mash the salmon chunks as you would canned tuna fish. Add the eggs, bread crumbs and Dijon mustard and mix together. Then add your seasonings according to your taste. Blend everything together well.

Heat a cast iron skillet on medium heat, drizzling with a bit of grapeseed oil.
Form four patties with the salmon mixture. Place in the hot skillet and cook for eight minutes, flipping patties halfway through.

There you have it - a nutritious protein dish in less than twenty minutes.

Serving suggestion: Plate the salmon patties with a side of steamed broccoli or asparagus and (if you eat gluten-free grains) a small portion of wild rice.