Simple Salmon Cakes with Cool Lemon Dill Sauce

My sister, Sara, cooked these up once when I was visiting her during college. The cakes were so delicious, and reminded me of crab cakes. I love crab cakes, but I do not love the price tag that comes along with real lump crab. Two years later, I'm finally getting around to creating my own version of these delicious things. These are a great cure for a crab cake craving on a budget.

The salmon I bought was from Trader Joe's and was labeled as "wild caught alaskan salmon". I think the can was around $3 or $4. You can't beat that!

Once I drained and sorted through the salmon (I like to pick out the visible bones and skin), I tossed it with some lemon zest, green onion, parsley, salt, a tiny squeeze of good mayo, and an egg.

Heat up the oil nice and hot (but not smoking hot) so you get that crispy golden outer layer on the cakes.

While the oil is heating, form the salmon mixture into patties the size of your palm, and dredge in egg/milk, then panko style bread crumbs.

Carefully place each cake into the hot oil and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until golden and crispy. Don't burn yourself with hot oil like I did. Ouch.

Serve with a dollop of cool lemon dill sauce and a lemon wedge.

This night's sides were steamed rice and sautéed vegetables. 

Ever wonder what a typical Junaluska Julep dinner table looks like? Here you have it. Jacob bought me these pretty spring flowers, aren't they nice?

Simple Salmon Cakes Recipe:

Makes 4 palm sized cakes

- 1 can of salmon (one 14 ounce can, or two 7 ounce cans)

-  2 eggs

- 1 tbsp mayonaise

- Zest of one lemon

- 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

- 1 tbsp chopped green onion

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup milk

- 1 cup panko style bread crumbs

- Olive oil (or canola oil) for pan frying

Directions:

- Mix together the salmon, one egg, mayonaise, lemon zest, parsley, green onion, and salt.

- Form the salmon mixture into palm size patties, set aside.

- Coat a deep skillet with 1/4 inch oil and turn the heat to medium/high.

- While the oil is heating, mix together the remaining egg and milk.

- Dredge the cakes in the milk/egg mixture, then the panko bread crumbs.

- Carefully place the coated patties in the hot oil and fry for 2-3 minutes on each side (or until golden and crispy).

- Serve with cool lemon dill sauce (recipe below) and garnish with a lemon wedge, parsley, and/or green onion.

Cool Lemon Dill Sauce Recipe:

- 3 tbsp sour cream

- 1 tbsp mayonaise

- 1/2 tsp dried dill (or 1 tsp chopped fresh dill)

- 2 tsp lemon juice

- 1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

 - Mix all ingredients together and serve with simple salmon cakes!

Panko Crusted Coconut Lime Tilapia

Don't you just love it when you try to cook something new for the first time and it turns out perfectly? That's how this dish went. I kind of threw it all together as I went along, took pictures (with hopes that it would at least look pretty), and it turned out great. I'm so excited for all of you to try this recipe in your own kitchens!

Fish can be a tricky thing to cook. I have had many failed fish recipes - there, I said it. It's very delicate, and easy to over cook. When picking out fish to bring home from the grocery store, I usually go with salmon (wild caught if it's not ridiculously expensive), or some kind of white fish. Tilapia is a favorite of ours since it's mild and very inexpensive.

I bought a bag of frozen tilapia a few months back and it's been a great go-to when we realize there are no proteins in the house and it's dinner time. The tilapia filets are individually packaged so you can take as many or as few as you please out at a time. Since they're quite thin, they don't take long to thaw. I put a few filets in a bowl of cool water for about an hour and they were ready to roll!

I used japanese panko style bread crumbs for this recipe. They were the key ingredient that made the tilapia so crispy and light.

The filets were dipped in a egg/milk bath before being dunked in the panko breading mixture.

The dry ingredients included panko, dried parsley, lime zest, and salt.

I pan fried the filets in coconut oil. Coconut oil has a very high smoking point (meaning, you can get it really really hot before it will start to burn), so it works great for getting things nice and crispy on the outside. 

2-3 minutes on each side.

Served with pearled barley + roasted heirloom tomatoes and steamed broccoli. More on pearled barley in an upcoming post...

The fish was so crispy, with tons of flavor bursting from the lime zest and coconut oil. I highly recommend adding this to your week's menu.

Panko Crusted Coconut Lime Tilapia

Serves 2, but can easily be double or tripled

- 2 large tilapia filets (or 4 small filets)

- 1 cup panko bread crumbs

- 1 tsp salt plus a pinch
- 1 pinch of pepper

- 1 tsp dried parsley

- Zest of one lime
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup milk
- 2 tbsp coconut oil (I use this kind)
- Lime wedges for garnish


Directions:
- Season the filets with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Whisk together the egg and milk.
- Mix together the panko, 1 tsp salt, parsley, and lime zest.
- Dredge the filets in the egg mixture, then coat in the bread crumb mixture. Make sure each filet is evenly covered with bread crumbs.
- In a medium skillet, heat the coconut oil on medium-high heat. This is an important step, as you want the pan to be quite hot when you cook the fish. A hot pan will give you a crispy outer layer.
- Place two filets in the pan at once (being sure not to crowd them together), and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side. When flipped, the filets should be golden and crispy.
- Garnish with a lime wedge.