Quick, Good For You, Kid-Friendly and TASTY! Salmon Burgers!

A friend of mine from college recently told me that she liked my blog.  She was needing to eat healthy so some of my entries would have to wait.  Yeah, my apple dumplings probably aren't the healthiest thing to try.  Enter the Zesty Salmon Burger!  This has been a standard of mine for a long time.  Waaaay back when I was first pregnant with Emma, I tried to do my best to eat healthy stuff, in spite of having morning sickness 24/7.  I read that salmon had a good amount of calcium and protein, so I set out to find ways to eat more of it.  I also needed quick, because being nauseous from pregnancy, food prep had to be fast.  I found this recipe by Melanie Dunn in a Taste Of Home magazine and was (stifle giggle here.....) "hooked".   This comes in burger form and is great on a whole wheat bun or over top of a green, leafy salad.

 It starts out with canned wild caught salmon. Yes, wild caught makes a difference.  Farm-raised salmon, though tasty, isn't nearly as good for you.  Farm-raised salmon is fatter (it doesn't have to swim as long and far as a wild born salmon) but its omega-3 fatty acids are lower.  Farm-raised salmon is subjected to antibiotics and more polluted water than their wild kin.  Think of farm-raised being raised in the city, living in crowded conditions while the wild salmon roam free.  I also like the fact that most of the salmon caught wild is immediately cleaned and canned within a short amount of time, sometimes right on the boat!

Fortunately, you don't have to pay an arm and a leg for canned wild caught salmon.  Here, I hold a can of off brand wild caught salmon, less than $2 a can.  You could certainly use leftover fresh salmon if you had enough!

Zesty Salmon Burgers:
printable recipe
1 can (14-3/4 oz.) salmon, drained, skin and bones removed
2 eggs
1/2 c. dry bread crumbs
1/4 c. finely chopped onion
1/4 c. mayonnaise
2 T. prepared horseradish (use as little or as much as you like....I always put in MORE!)
1 T. pimentos (I have YET to put these in the burgers...I never have pimentos on hand!)
1/4 t. salt
1/8 t. pepper

When I made this recipe for the blog, I doubled it.  My family of five LOVES this meal....there weren't any leftovers!

First step is to heat about 2 T. of oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Next, drain the salmon and remove the skin and bones.  If you want to get extra calcium, leave the bones, just make sure that you crush them well.  The bones will be very soft and will crumble easily.

Straight from the can.  It won't win any awards for appearance....not yet anyway

Removing the skin.

Taking out the bones.

 Once you do this. then add the eggs, bread crumbs, onion, mayonnaise, horseradish, pimentos (if you have them), salt and pepper in a large bowl.

 Mix it all up

After you have it well mixed, it is time to form patties.  I get five patties when I do a single batch.  Make each patty 4 to 6 oz. each.  (I had a paper cut on my left hand so I covered it with a sandwich bag...you don't have to do this!)

Add your patties to the now hot skillet and cook for 6 minutes each side or until they are a deep golden brown; flip and cook the other side.  These patties are a bit fragile so take care as you flip them.  They will firm up as they cook.

Patties that just hit the pan....

Patties ready to hit the bun!

Once the patties/burgers are finished cooking, you can either load them up on a whole wheat bun with a little bit of mayo and a couple leaves of lettuces OR you can put them over a leafy green salad dressed with simply lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.  Each patty has 268 calories, 15 g. fat, 8.7 g. carbs, 23.7 g protein  Good stuff, y'all!