Cheddar Quinoa Salmon Cakes

I don't like cake. 

I'm talking about birthday cake, chocolate cake, red velvet cake. None of it really does it for me. The only exception is ice cream cake. I mean, I am human here people. But for the most part, I'm just not a cake person.

I am, however, a cakes person. You heard me. 

Cakes.

You know, crab cakes, rice cakes, salmon cakes. 

Generally, savory things are just more delicious (to me) than sweet ones. 

So it's not really very surprising that I prefer the crab kind of cakes to, you know, the chocolate kind. 


Or in this case: Salmon cakes.

Salmon's just such an awesome food. It's delicious, for one. It's incredibly healthy, for another.


Unfortunately, it can be also incredibly expensive too. And I'm pretty sure--maybe it's just me--but I'd like to NOT see my entire week's paycheck go to feeding myself fish. 

At least not ALL the time.

That's why canned salmon is the perfect solution. It means i can get my fish-fix without having to rob a bank.

And just to make the whole thing more awesome, these are completely easy and delicious. 

But there's a catch here (besides the salmon, pun totally intended).... 

I may or may not have written the recipe in Sharpie on a paper towel while making it up while cooking it (Shut up, I'm a professional). And then I may or may not have accidentally thrown away the paper towel during the clean up process. Uh oh. 


See, I cook as I go, add ingredients on a whim, dashes of this, hints of that. So when I don't write things down, or you know, happen to lose them, it can be difficult to recall exactly what I did. 

Which is going to make this next part a little awkward....

So um, here goes nothing. I'll try my best to recreate it. Sorry in advance.

Cheddar Quinoa Salmon Cakes
olive oil
1/2 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic2 cans wild caught Alaskan salmon 
3/4 cup quinoa, cooked
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1/4 cup cheddar, shredded
1 large egg, beaten
seasoning: red pepper flakes, parsley, cayenne, paprika--use as much or as little as you'd like, salt and pepper to taste
butter


Heat oil in nonstick skillet over medium heat, add onions and saute until translucent. Add garlic and continue cooking until onions have begun to brown. Remove from heat. 


In a large bowl, add onions to remaining ingredients and season as you like. Mix together and form into patties--they should stick together well enough to form into patties without being too wet. If too moist, add breadcrumbs and/or quinoa until you achieve a workable consistency. If too dry, add 1 egg white (beaten). 

Heat small amount of butter in large non-stick pan. Saute salmon patties over medium/medium high heat for 3-5 minutes on each side or until browned on the sides and heated all the way through.


Serve warm. Here, they're served on bed of arugula with cherry tomatoes and drizzled with olive oil and freshly squeezed lemon juice.