Salmon cakes with Grilled Corn Salad

I've had this can of salmon sitting in the cupboard, for about the last month or two. I bought it intending to use it to make "polar bear fish biscuit treats" for the awesome Lost finale party I threw, but since I wasn't exactly sure how canned salmon tastes it the fish biscuits were on the bottom of my list of things to make, and I ended not having enough time to make them, thus the canned salmon collected dust in the cupboard. I wasn't exactly sure what to do with it, and thought to myself that I make crab cakes somewhat frequently, and I don't use the most choice crab meat for them (I'm a poor pharmacy student mind you), so I figured why not try make salmon cakes with the canned salmon. That's exactly what I did, and they turned out rather tasty if I do say so myself. I was a bit startled at first, when I opened and drained the can of salmon, then dumped it into a bowl, to find a bunch of bones in the salmon meat. I didn't let it turn me off though, a lesser man might have just thrown the canned salmon away and bought some fresh salmon filets from the grocery, but I was determined to make it work. So I diligently picked all of the big bones out and as many of the small, what I think were rib bones out as I could and continued on. I mixed the salmon with most everything I would to make crab cakes, except the old bay, grilled them up, stuck them on a roll topped with a slice of swiss cheese, and some avocado slices, had the grilled corn salad as my side (which was really, really good, definitely try it) and thoroughly enjoyed the creation I made.

Salmon Cakes

3-4 burger sized cakes

1 12 oz can of salmon (I'm not actually sure of the size of the can but the store I was in had two sizes of cans and I got the smaller can)

1 lemon

2 tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

1/2 medium sweet onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 egg

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

a few dashes of hot sauce (I used sriracha)

salt and pepper

2-3 slices of bacon, cooked and cut into small stips

3- 4 slices of swiss (if making sandwiches)

1 avocado, sliced

1 lime

Open and drain the can of salmon, dump into a bowl, and pick out as many bones as you can. I'm not sure if all canned salmon has bones, so maybe look for a can that is boneless at the store, if not it really was a big deal to pick them out, I definitely didn't feel any in the cakes.

Mix the juice from the lemon, mayo, onion, garlic, egg, cayenne, hot sauce, and panko, in a bowl then with the salmon.

Form 3-4 patties with the mixture, cover and refrigerate for at least a half hour, and I would imagine you could do it overnight, to allow the cakes to firm up.

Bring the grill up to medium high heat, prior to cooking the salmon cakes.

Brush each side of the cakes with a little bit of oil and since the salmon is already cooked, just grill the cakes for about 3-4 minutes a side or until nice grill marks form.

*For the bacon preheat an oven to 325 degrees F and cook bacon for about 20-25 minutes until its to the crispness that you prefer.

**For the avocado slices, just mix the juice of the lime with a little bit of salt and mix with the avocado slices right after you slice it, so they don't turn that gross dark green/brown.

Grilled Corn Salad

5-6 servings

5 cobs of corn, with the husks on

1 orange pepper, diced (really any color pepper will do)

1 small red onion, diced

1 cucumber diced

1 small can of black beans

1 tomato, seeded and diced

Dressing:

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

juice from 2 lemons

salt and pepper

Open the corn husks and brush cobs with olive oil, salt and pepper. Grill over medium heat for about twenty minutes, turning the corn occaisionally.

Cut the corn of the cob and combine with the other vegetables and the beans.

In a separate bowl combine all ingredients for the dressing, then toss with the salad. Allow to chill in the refrigerator and serve cool.

Eat well, Live well