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1.06.2009

Rethinking Salmon...Crusted & Seared In Onion Seeds and Spicy Salmon Cannellini Cakes

I'm sure most posts you are reading this week are about healthy foods, and mine is no exception. I have a rare negative opportunity with Certain Someone away for a while, to turn it into a positive.While my love is away, I can indulge in some healthier foods that aren't necessarily to his liking and experiment more. Certain Someone is not a fish person, but I love it. However Salmon is one of those fishes I can tire of easily. I purchased a pound and salmon and cut three fillets for this week. Here are two dishes I came up this week: I loved this piece of salmon I dipped in Onion seeds, otherwise known as Nigella seeds or Black Cumin. You can can find these in an Indian market. Lightly heated or toasted a nice light flavor emanates. I was more interested in visual contrast.

Heat a pan than can go into into oven with a bit of vegetable oil on the stove top. Place your salmon (Skin on and side down) dipped with onion seeds on top, in the pan.Lightly season with sea salt.Broil in oven for a few minutes until desired doneness.Turn salmon over carefully once and broil for an additional moment to cook the top. The underside of the skin should be nice and crispy. Serve atop a bed of greens dressed with lemon and olive oil.
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I was craving something else a bit more substantial but light. I toyed with a can of Cannellini Beans which go excellent with salmon and came up with this spicy cakes.Not fried but still crispy, they are lighter , exotic version of salmon croquettes. You can omit the spice but that adds the punch:

Spicy Salmon Cannellini Cakes
makes 6 patties
15 oz can of Cannelini Beans rinsed and drained
6-7 ounce fillet of salmon poached (skin off)
1 egg beaten
1/4 cup Rice Flour
1 small ear fresh corn( kernels scrapped off) or 1/2 cup can. Fresh works best.
1-2 red chilies
2 cloves garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 cups Panko Bread Crumbs
vegetable oil for greasing the baking sheet
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
In a bowl add the can of cannelini beans. and chopped red chili's. Take an immersion blender and mash. Add egg, rice flour, garlic, flaked salmon,corn,salt, and mix. Mixture will be goopy( for lack of better word). In a separate dish pour in your Panko Bread Crumbs. Grease baking sheet.
With well oiled hands take a scoop of mixture and drop in Panko. Turn over. Its not a firm mixture so you will need to shape it carefully. Drop well coated patties onto baking sheet. Bake for approx 10 minutes and then turn. Bake for another 10 minutes. Patties should be firm and slightly golden.
I served these atop wilted rainbow chard wilted in olive oil and lime wedges.

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17 comments:

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

These salmon cakes sound and look fantastic! The kind of food I like...

Cheers,

Rosa

Glenna said...

Oh yum! The salmon and bean cakes look fantastic!!!!Thanks for the recipe.

Anonymous said...

I really like nigella seeds and cannellinni beans so you covered both bases in this post. I will try the "spicy salmon cannellini cakes" soon and report how they were. The photos look fab as always. Good that you can try different things when that Certain Someone is away. Looks like it was a BIG piece of fish.

Dee said...

Hi Courtney. I love salmon, and both your dishes look great. How did you get the nigella seeds to stay on the fish? Mine always fall off!

Peter M said...

I'm delighted that you like and eat the salmon skin. When done right (crispy), it's as good as bacon.

I'm adding nigella seeds to the list.

giz said...

Both salmon dishes are interesting. I've never cooked with Nigella seeds and have never mixed cannellini beans with salmon. I love the contrast in the nigella seed dish - a show stopper. CS doesn't know what he's missing :)

Nina Timm said...

I had a packet of onion seeds in my hand the other day and decided to leave it, because I did not know what to do with it....darn, I'll have to go back to that shop tomorrow! Both recipes gets a thumbs up from me!

Jen said...

You are so right about all the healthy recipes on the blogs right now... your salmon looks great though. I've never used nigella seeds before but they look beautiful on the salmon.

Hendersonville Epicurean said...

The salmon looks beautiful on the greens. Bet it is even more dramatic when it's broken open. Nice job on the entire meal, Coco.

eatingclubvancouver_js said...

I LIKE the sound of those spicy salmon cannellini cakes! That is one awesome idea.

Heather said...

I love fish cakes with greens. Sounds so good! Nice and healthy for the post-holiday slim-down.

Jeanne said...

Now those are 2 intriguing recipes! We never tire of salmon in our house :) I love the idea of healthy baked fishcakes too!

Thistlemoon said...

I adore salmon and am always looking for new and exciting ways to prepare it. Both of these sound delicious! I have never used nigella seeds and have always been intrigued.

Anonymous said...

Lovely and delicious way of preparing salmon. I'm always very boring when I make salmon.

Anonymous said...

Great idea on the Salmon. I'm a big fan of Salmon as well.I'd like to invite you to take some time to drop by at Foodista and share your delicious recipe with us. We have launched an online food and cooking encyclopedia ala wikipedia. Add a recipe and you can win a $100 gift card to Sur la table. Don't forget to register first so we know who to thank the recipe for. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

gorgeous. love the patties.

Rumela said...

Spicy Salmon Cannellini Cakes!! yummm...it will be ideal for a tea party with friends. a spicy Cannellini cakes to go with spicy gossips. thank you for shearing your post.