Salmon Patties

I made these salmon patties last Whole30 and fell in love with them!  They're honestly a cinch to put together and they work for literally any meal!  I made a batch last night and am so excited to have them for lunch today!

I've had them hot out of the oven for dinner, served with sauteed spinach and some sweet potato.  They're great cold out of the fridge on top of a salad for lunch, or even next to some eggs for breakfast.  I know, I know....it might sound weird to have salmon for breakfast, but hell, I love lox and they're salmon, too!

I adapted these from a recipe I found online, and the first time I made them I made about 2/3 of the recipe.  There weren't enough and I was so sad when I ate the last one!  These are definitely a keeper, and like I said, they'll work for any meal.  Plus, I think they'd be a great appetizer if you made them smaller, perhaps along with my avocado "deviled" eggs?!

The other nice thing is that you can customize these for your taste.  Add some red pepper flakes; sub in almond flour (I ran out last time so I didn't make it with the flour; they were so good that I skipped it this time, too).


Salmon Patties
Adapted slightly from No Crumbs Left

Ingredients:

1 lb salmon, skinned and boned
3/4 cup celery, diced small
3/4 cup onion, diced small
1/2 red pepper, diced small
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp Old Bay seasoning (I didn't have any, so I used a little garlic and onion powders, black pepper, and cayenne pepper)
1 egg, lightly beaten before adding to rest of ingredients
Olive oil or avocado oil, to brush pan

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F.

Place salmon in food processor and pulse for only 2 seconds, leaving some texture to the fish.
Place in a bowl and add the celery, onion, and red pepper.
Mix well.
Season with salt and Old Bay.

This mixture can sit in the refrigerator overnight.

When ready to cook, mix in the egg.

Make patties in desired size.  I used an ice cream scooper for uniform size and then pat them so that they were flatter.
Place patties on a foil-lined pan, which has been lightly oiled.
Bake for 8 minutes.
Flip and bake for another 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let cool.

Chipotle Shrimp Taco Bowls

Today was a hot and humid day in NYC and my husband and I decided to get a nice long walk in this morning.  We set out for coffee (I'm a nut and brought pre-measured cashew milk with me), and then we walked and walked and walked.  We stopped somewhere near the middle for a quick bite and to pick up shrimp for dinner, and ended at Whole Foods to get the remainder of what we needed for tonight's dinner (I got the majority of the stuff on yesterday's major Trader Joe's haul).  

I'm so excited about tonight's dinner and have been talking about it all day -- like nearly-all-8-miles-of-our-walk all day.  Honestly, I'm sure my hubby is sick and tired of it already, but secretly I think he's pretty excited, too.  We're going to adapt a Whole30 fish taco bowl recipe I saw online.  I have a few ideas for modifying it: swapping shrimp for the fish, making a little chipotle slaw (a recipe I've been eyeing since Whole30 #2) instead of sliced cabbage, adding some homemade pico de gallo, and subbing in my hubby's award winning guac for the avocado cilantro sauce.  

Honestly, I'm thinking this is going to be a recipe we're going to use on repeat all summer long, even after my Whole30 is over!  I'm sure it would also be so good with pulled salsa verde chicken (the one Whole30 recipe I made during Whole30 #1, which I'm sure I'll be making in the next week or two and will share), with the original fish the recipe called for, or even with grilled steak. 

Update: This dinner was insane!  Both my non-Whole30-ing husband and I loved it!  We each did some prep, and served dinner make-your-own-taco-bowl style.  I even served some watermelon cubes with it to cut the spice from the chipotle in the slaw and the chili powder in the shrimp marinade.

Chipotle Shrimp Taco Bowls

Serves 2 hungry people (we had a few shrimp left over), or 3 people

Modified from The Defined Dish

Slaw adapted from Healthy Little Peach

Ingredients:

For the shrimp

3/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 Tbsp olive oil

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1 tsp chili powder (chipotle chili powder would've been ideal, but we were out of it)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Juice of 1 lime

1/2 - 1 T olive oil, for cooking

For the Pico de Gallo

2 Roma tomatoes

1 slice white onion, 1/4 inch thick

1/2 jalapeno pepper

Salt

Juice of 1/2 lime

For the chipotle lime slaw

2 cups shredded cabbage (I used Trader Joe's bagged organic shredded cabbage with carrots)

3-4 T Primal Kitchen Chipotle Lime Mayo

1-2 squeezes fresh lime juice

Salt & Pepper to taste

For the bowls

2 cups riced cauliflower

1 T olive oil

1/4 cup water

1/2 jalapeno, sliced thin

3-4 radishes, sliced thin

Guacamole or sliced avocado

1/2 lime, cut into wedges

Chopped cilantro, for topping

Directions:

Make the slaw.  Mix the cabbage with the mayonnaise.  Add salt, pepper, and 1-2 squeezes of lime juice.  Taste, and add salt and pepper as needed.  Cover and put in the fridge.

Make the Pico de Gallo.  Dice the tomato and onion.  Place in a bowl.  Remove the membranes and seeds from half a jalapeno pepper.  Cut into small pieces.  Add to tomato and onion.  Sprinkle with some salt, and juice of 1/2 lime.  Mix together.  Cover and place in the fridge.  

* This makes more Pico then you'll actually need for the taco bowls, but it's so delicious, I don't think you'll complain.

Make the marinade for the shrimp.  Mix together the oil, salt, pepper, juice of 1 lime, oregano, and chili powder.  Mix well.  Place shrimp in bowl and toss to coat.  Marinate for 5-10 minutes, watching closely so that the shrimp don't get "cooked" in the lime juice.  Remove from the marinade and pat dry.

Make the cauliflower rice.  Heat 1T olive oil in a pan.  Sautee cauliflower rice for about 2 minutes.  Add 1/4 cup of water and cover, allowing to steam for 3-5 minutes.  Remove from pan and place into bowls.

In a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat, place about 1/2 - 1T olive oil and heat until smoking.  Place the shrimp in the pan, being sure not to crowd them.  Cook for 1 and a half minutes, and then flip.  Cook for an additional 1 and a half minutes.  Place over cauliflower rice.

Prepare bowls by adding the toppings of your choice, but I recommend a little of each.  I skipped the jalapeno slices and some cilantro.