Toddler-Friendly Salmon and Kale Patties with Avocado Crema Sauce

Let's talk fish for a second.  People seem to have a love/hate relationship with fish, especially "fishy-tasting fish" like salmon or trout.  There are also many folks highly allergic to certain types of fish, but that usually falls into the shellfish category.  For some reason, a lot of parents I've spoken to are terrified to give their babies or toddler any sort of seafood.  I would highly encourage parents to introduce seafood to their children early so they can acquire a taste for it. Countless studies have been done on the nutritional benefits of seafood and it is recommended to consume fish 2-3 times a week. Chock-full of vitamins, minerals, protein, low cholesterol, omega-3s, and not to mention the fact that consuming seafood regularly has proven to lower the risk of chronic diseases.  Phew.  Have I made my point that fish is really, really, really good for you?? I am not going to get into the wild-caught versus farm-raised and sustainable fish issues.  I buy wild-caught fish for my family but not everyone wants to fork out the extra $2-3 per pound on wild, organic fish.  I also make that fish last. If you're serving just a broiled 4 oz fillet for dinner, then that 1 lb of fish will not last for more than one meal for a family of 4.  However, if you get creative with your fish, you can stretch it out! One of my favorite ways to prepare salmon is to make salmon patties.  My husband waited three years to tell me that he doesn't actually like salmon a whole lot.  I had been making broiled salmon with the same marinade every week for three years.  I guess it took him three years to gather up the courage to tell me. Smart man, he knows how to survive.

Anyway, I decided to get creative and figure out a way to make that man eat salmon.  Enter salmon burgers.  He will wolf those down two at a time and I have to smack his hand away from getting more.  I was a bit nervous about how my daughter would react to salmon as far as taste but I decided to make her a salt-free version when she was ten months old and see how she did.  She LOVED it!  No allergic reactions to seafood either, which was a huge relief.  The great thing about these patties is that you can eat them as a low-carb option over a salad, stuff the patties into some pita bread for lunch, or eat them as burgers for dinner with some sweet potato fries.  There are countless possibilities on seasoning them so it is a glorious way to eat the fishy-tasting fish.  But aside from deep frying (SO unhealthy), how do you cook these things properly so they hold together? I have a great technique which I will show you below.  Please note that my ingredients will yield roughly 8-10 large patties because I am completely and 100% OK with leftovers and not having to cook dinner every day :)

Ingredients:

Patties:

2 lbs fresh salmon (Time-saving tip:  ask the seafood person to remove the skin for you.  This is SO much easier than attempting to skin the fillet when you get home).

1 cup of minced red onion

3 cups of kale

1 cup of whole wheat breadcrumbs

3 tsp of Old Bay Seasoning

Salt to taste

Avocado Crema Sauce: 

2 avocados

2 cloves of garlic

juice of 2-3 fresh limes

1/4 cup cilantro

Salt and pepper to taste 

Directions:

Heat a large non-stick pan on medium heat and when warm, add 2 tsp of olive oil

Use your chopper to mince your onion and keep that chopper handy for later

Add the red onions and saute for 3 mins until the onions begin to soften

Add the kale and continue to cook for another 4-5 mins until kale is completely wilted and the onions are cooked.

Remove the pan off the heat to let the veggies cool and start working on the salmon.  Keep the pan, you will need it later.

Back to your ol' faithful chopper we go.... (you know I love my Hamilton Beach one) and cut the RAW salmon into 2-3 inch pieces.  Try not to act like a sushi chef while cutting the raw salmon.  I do not speak from experience here or anything.  This process should be a piece of cake because you asked the nice person at the Seafood counter to skin the fish for you.  PLEASE TELL ME YOU DID THIS!

Throw the pieces of salmon into the food processor and give it whirl.  If you have a large food processor, you should be able to fit all 2 lbs of salmon into it without a problem but you may need to do a couple of batches if you have a smaller one.  I have found that raw salmon holds together and if you try and make these with fully cooked salmon or canned salmon, they will need a LOT of eggs and breadcrumbs to bind.  It should look like this when you've pulsed it for 15-20 seconds:

Add your kale and red onions into the chopper and run it one more time to mix all that good stuff into the salmon and to get the kale diced into teeny tiny pieces.

In a a large mixing bowl, add the one cup of breadcrumbs, Old Bay seasoning, salt, and salmon mixture, and mix very well.  The mixture will be oily from the natural fat from the salmon and it will be wet.  I only used one cup of breadcrumbs for 2 lbs of salmon because to me, it was enough to bind the salmon together and not too much that I felt overloaded with carbs.  

After a light spray of oil, get that large pan back on the heat and set it to medium.   You will not need to coat the pan with lots of oil because the salmon will release a lot of its natural good fat while it cooks. That will serve as enough oil for you to cook with.  It's like the salmon patties fry in their own fat--it's a truly beautiful thing to behold!

Form your patties and add them about four at a time to your hot pan.  Don't overcrowd the pan!

You will cook them for around 5 minutes on each side if you keep them on medium heat.  If you like them a bit more crispy, you can increase the heat to medium-high but only need around 3 mins. per side.  CAREFULLY flip the patties when it is time to change sides.  They should hold together really well but best to be safe.  If you have a meat thermometer, use it to make sure the internal temperature reads at least 145 degrees.  Since I started cooking for my toddler, I'm even more paranoid about under-cooking anything, especially seafood.  A meat thermometer ensures that you're not having to constantly cut into meat to check and see if it is done and prevents too much over cooking.  This is the one I use:

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Get a paper towel-lined plate ready for when your patties are all cooked and golden-looking.

Now it is is time to prepare the SAUCE.  Oh the sauce.  I think I could just eat the sauce with a spoon and call it a day.  You obviously don't have to make the sauce but it is just SO delicious with these patties, especially in a burger form.  You can use this avocado crema sauce for just about any meat dish but I think it pairs magnificently with seafood.

Since you used your super duper chopper for raw seafood, please do not use it again for this sauce.  If you have another smaller chopper, whip that out.  I am a chopper collector/hoarder so I have many.  I HATE spending time dicing/mincing/slicing things so I hold my choppers dear to my heart.

Cut open those two avocados and slice them into small pieces

Open up 2 cloves of garlic

Throw the whole garlic cloves into the chopper first and proceed to mince.  Add your avocado pieces, the juice of 2 limes, and your cilantro, and run the chopper again until the sauce is smooth.  It should be thick but not have any visible chunks of avocado.  Add a bit of salt and pepper to taste and you may even want to add juice from another lime.  We're huge citrus fans in our house so it just depends on your tolerance.  Try not to eat the whole bowl of sauce before dinner. Remind yourself that the sauce is even more delicious the next day, and the next day.  The beautiful thing about adding fresh lime juice to the avocado sauce is that it prevents the avocados from browning.  Win-Win!

If you're serving the patties low-carb, I would recommend putting a patty on a bed of mixed greens or arugula and adding a dollop (or five) of the avocado crema sauce.  We ate ours as burgers with whole wheat buns and sweet potato fries.  The 2 lbs of salmon should have yielded around 8-10 patties which can feed a family of four for two dinners.  I spent around $27 on my salmon because I bought the E.U. certified organic, blah blah, blah salmon and it has lasted the three of us three dinners since I yielded 9 patties.  My toddler eats a whole patty herself, she loves these so much.  Plus, there's kale in them so I feel like it is one of those super foods and feel so good when she eats this meal! These patties reheat very well in the microwave and freeze perfectly too!  Bon Appetit!