Salmon Cakes With Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce And Herbed Basmati Rice. Funky Friends In The Kitchen.

Just because:

Ah, I loveee me some Breaking Bad.

I’m also quite smitten with last night’s dinner, which is today’s post.

Who knew Salmon Cakes could be so good? Well, these are extremely good. They’re packed with Asian flavor and served with a creamy ginger take on tartar sauce.

I loved the rice cooked this way. It is buttery, herby and has crunch from the pine nuts. I couldn’t quite get the crust that is supposed to form, but I cannot wait to try again. (I probably shouldn’t have lifted the lid before the 30 minute cook time elapsed, but I did.)

Salmon Cakes With Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce

Ingredients:

6 slices whole-wheat sandwich bread
2 (15-ounce) cans salmon, drained, skin and bones removed (Do this with your hands since the bones are really small and you don’t want to miss any.)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 green onions
1/2 cup finely chopped canned water chestnuts
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 teaspoons olive oil, divided
Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce (recipe follows)

Directions:

1. Remove crusts from the bread, break into pieces, and process in a food processor until fine crumbs form.

2. In a large bowl, flake apart the salmon with a fork. Add the egg and mix well. Finely chop 4 of the green onions and add to the bowl. Add the water chestnuts, cilantro, pepper, and bread crumbs and mix well. Shape the mixture into 12 patties.

3. In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 teaspoons of olive oil over medium heat. Add 6 patties and cook for 5 minutes on each side. Transfer the cooked patties to a plate and cover with foil to keep warm. Add the remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil to the pan, and cook the rest of the salmon cakes, 5 minutes on each side.

4. Chop the remaining green onion. Serve salmon cakes with the sauce and garnish with green onion.

Serves 6

Creamy Ginger-Sesame Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt or 6 tablespoons nonfat Greek-style yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 1/2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon soy sauce

Directions:

1. Place yogurt into a small bowl. Add mayonnaise, ginger, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Whisk until smooth.

Makes about 2/3 cup

Recipes from Ellie Krieger

Herbed Basmati Rice

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups basmati rice
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/2 cup minced cilantro, or herb of your choice
1/2 cup toasted pine nuts

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan bring 2 quarts of water with salt to a boil. Add rice and boil 10 minutes. In a colander drain rice and rinse under warm water.

2. In a 2- to 3-quart heavy bottomed pot, melt butter. Spoon rice, cilantro and pine nuts over butter and cover pan with a kitchen towel and a heavy lid (Fold edges of towel up over lid so it doesn’t catch fire) and cook rice over moderately low heat until tender and a crust forms on bottom, 30 to 35 minutes.

Serves 5