Salmon Cakes

So I had some things in my cabinet I have to use... I ran into a recipe similar to this a while back ago -I believe Self Magazine or something, and have been wanting to try it out. Today was the day to give it a shot and I was very pleased! It was really satisfying, and really isn't THAT bad for you...since I made a couple modifications.

Salmon cakes:
15 oz. Salmon from can (skin and bones removed)
1/4 cup diced onions
1/4 cup red peppers (I added less, since I don't like bell peppers too much, they add great flavor and color though)
1 diced garlic clove
1 stalk of green onion, chopped
3 tbs fresh chopped dill (fresh is really going to make a difference!!)
5-6 whole wheat crackers -crushed
1 egg
1 tbs plain fat free yogurt
2 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
pinch of paprika for color

Yogurt Dill Sauce:
1/4 cup fat free plain yogurt
4-5 tbs skim milk
1 tbs dijon mustard
2 tbs fresh chopped dill
1 tsp garlic salt
salt/pepper to taste
squeeze of lemon for flavor (I personally think the yogurt is tart enough, but the lemon adds so much flavor...I'll put in a little bit of the lemon zest next time for a lemony flavor to it)

1. Sweat onions, peppers, and garlic in pan with small amount of olive oil (just for flavor)
2. Add onion mix into Salmon in a mixing bowl.
3. Add crushed crackers, and the remainder of the ingredients and mix thoroughly (with your hands is best) but don't break the salmon up too much, be gentle -you want to be able to still see the salmon meat
4. Shape into patties, I made 6 fairly decent sized patties.
5. Heat pan with cooking spray and cook patties until they are brown on both sides. You can also put these in the broiler, but I wanted quickness without heating up the oven!

For the sauce: Whisk all your ingredients together, adding the dill last and spoon over your crab cakes!

I made a nice little tomato salad with capers and balsamic vinegar to go along with my cakes and it was DELICIOSO!! Enjoy!

Chicken Fried (Brown) Rice

What's for dinner today? I'm strapped for time so I'm always looking for something quick and easy. Today, I went to the good ol' fried rice...of course, making it a healthier version than my mom did while I was growing up. That's right -olive oil instead of pork fat; chicken breast instead of Chinese pork sausage; and the kicker -brown rice instead of white!

It turned out pretty well if I do say so myself. I gobbled it all up and back to my laptop to work...boo!



1 clove garlic
1/3 cup onions
1/2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp sesame seed oil
5 tbs soy sauce
1 4-6 oz chopped chicken breast (salted, peppered and splashed with a bit of soy sauce for about 30 min)
1 lrg egg
1/3 cup frozen peas
1 stalk green onion chopped
1 bag of Trader Joe's frozen pre-cooked brown rice (comes 3 in a pack)
Salt/Pepper to taste

1. Sweat the onions and garlic in the olive oil (sesame seed oil burns too quickly)
2. Add chicken and cook chicken all the way through.
3. Add frozen rice and cook thoroughly and add the sesame oil
4. Create a hole in the middle of the egg/chicken add the egg, and scramble. Stir continuously to cook the egg and incorporate into the rice.
5. Add soy sauce and peas, and give it one good stir.
6. Turn off the heat and add the green onions.
7. Plate, serve, eat and enjoy!!

*I also added some Sambal chili to the top of my bowl because I like it spicy!

Alaskan Cod with Mushroom Caper Garlic Sauce

In my attempts at cooking more, I made a yummy dinner tonight! I'm horrible at writing recipes because I don't really cook with recipes -I eye-ball EVERYTHING I cook... that's why I'm such a horrible baker! But here goes nothing:


3-6 oz Fillet of Mahi Mahi (I found the Cod too be too tough for this recipe, although still good!)
1 cup White mushrooms
1/4 cup red onions
3 cloves of garlic mashed/chopped
1 tbs drained capers
Lemon juice from small lemon
4 tbs fresh chopped dill
1/2 tbs butter
2 tbs olive oil
Salt/Pepper to taste

1. Lightly sprinkle salt and pepper onto fillet. Use half the dill and rub onto the fillet. Oil the pan and add a clove of chopped garlic to the oil, once hot place fish into pan and cook each side about 2 minutes. Place cooked fish onto a plate, will keep cooking through because of the heat.

2. For the sauce, put oil and butter into sauce pan, add onions and remaining garlic. Sweat the onions/garlic. Add mushrooms and cook them through. Add lemon juice, capers and remaining dill to the sauce. Feel free to add some white wine, as I would have if I had any on hand. To thicken the sauce a bit and to cut down on the acidity from the lemons and capers, I added some natural apple sauce which balanced the flavor, without adding any sugar!

3. Spoon the hot sauce over the cooked fish and serve!

Enjoy!