Zucchini Salmon Patties (gluten-free & paleo)

Zucchini Salmon Patties (gluten-free & paleo)

With three little boys in our family, fish is not always a dinner favorite.  So I am always looking for other ways to get fish into our weekly food rotation.  I remember my mom making traditional salmon patties when I was little and with a little modification we came up with a gluten-free (and paleo version) that my whole family loves.

I started adding zucchini, first to stretch the salmon further for our budget, but also discovered that it adds nice texture, depth of flavor and helps bind them. During the month of March, our local Earth Fare has been having fish Fridays, where they offer a different fish deal at the end of each week.  I couldn’t wait for the salmon week to come up because we were craving these!

SalmonZuchinnimy beautiful fresh salmon & zucchini from Earth Fare (yay! for Fish Fridays)

I prefer to use fresh salmon when I can get it on sale, but these also work well with canned or frozen salmon.  I bake my salmon for about 7 minutes, so that it is partially cooked and easier to shred and mash up.

These salmon patties are a quick and easy to make and I served them with cumin coleslaw, baked sweet potato rounds and a lemon-mustard-mayo-dill sauce.

zucchini salmon patties (gluten-free & paleo)
Author: 
Recipe type: main course
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 1 lb. of fresh salmon
  • 1 large zucchini or 2 small (grated)
  • 1 egg
  • 1 cup almond flour
  • 2 Tbps. grated onion
  • salt & pepper to taste
  • 2 Tbsp. coconut oil for pan browning
  • optional: 2-3 Tbsp. tapioca starch
Instructions
  1. place fresh salmon on a baking sheet and bake for about 7 minutes at 375 degrees until, partially cooked through.
  2. using a fork, shred the salmon and place in a large bowl.
  3. finely grate your zucchini and place in a colander and press out some of the water.
  4. add grated zucchini, grated onion, egg and almond flour and a pinch of salt & pepper into the bowl with the salmon and mix together.
  5. heat up a skillet with coconut oil on medium-high (oil should coat the bottom of the skillet)
  6. form patties with the mixture and place in the skillet to brown (approx. 10 mins)
  7. optional: If you feel like your batter is too wet (depends on how well you squeezed out the zucchini). adding a few Tbps. of tapioca starch will help in the binding and also give you a little extra crisp on the outside of the patties. *(tapioca starch is a commonly debated paleo ingredient)

 

The lemon-mayo-mustard-dill sauce on top of the salmon patties is a quick concoction.  It contains a spoonful of mayo & dijon mustard, juice of half a lemon, ½ tsp. of dried dill and a pinch of sea salt (a tsp. of honey is optional if you want to have a sweeter sauce).

 

Disclaimer: I received a small gift card to blog about a recipe using ingredients that I bought from Earth Fare. 

It’s Been a Long Winter:  Marinated Veggies

It’s Been a Long Winter: Marinated Veggies

The other day I asked my husband if he wanted spaghetti squash, butternut squash or cabbage as a side dish.  He looked at me with the look of “If I eat another winter squash…”  Yeah, it has been a long brutal winter here in Indiana (and yes, I am aware that Indiana’s winters don’t even compare to many places…I have visited Alaska), but that being said, we are all more than ready for spring.  I am so ready for sun on my face as I plant my little garden and my kids are so ready to just play outside and dig in the dirt. I am also ready for the food variety that increases in the spring and summer months.  So in celebration of a warm up that appears to be on the way…I set aside my “in season, on sale” winter squashes and decided to do a quick marinade on some yummy veggies to toss on the grill.  Unfortunately that “warm up” did not happen last night and I was grilling outside in 20 degrees and a brisk wind…but oh, well…dinner was yummy.  I served the grilled vegetables with grilled chicken and some fresh strawberries.

This is my go to, when I want a quick grilled vegetable medley. This combination is sliced zucchini, peppers and onions (I usually add in portabella mushrooms, but I didn’t have any on hand)…tossed in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, worcestershire sauce and some spices.

today’s dish used:

We love Penzey’s spices and the Chicago Steak Seasoning is mainly used on meats…but I have found that just a little bit of it, is a perfect compliment to grilled vegetables.  Also, a note on Balsamic Vinegar…we keep two types at all times in our pantry.  We use the EarthFare Organic or Bionaturae Organic for most of our marinades but then we also keep a bottle of 18 year aged balsamic from Artisano’s (a cute little oil & vinegar place here in Indy).  We use the Artisano’s mainly for salad dressing and fresh applications. Our “marinade” balsamic…is still really really good…and would be great on salads also, it’s just not as thick or sweet as the oil we buy specifically for salads.

Here are my beautiful veggies marinating before being tossed on the grill!  Here’s to hoping that spring is coming soon.

marinatedveggies

Spotlight on Bulk Buying: Coconut Oil

Spotlight on Bulk Buying: Coconut Oil

I get a lot of questions about our food budget (how we balance 3 growing boys? do we eat only organic?  how do we afford clean meat?  how much does an entirely gluten free house food budget cost?) etc.  One of our best changes is in the quantity of food that be buy in bulk.  Each month we set aside a budget for bulk buying and we then use these funds throughout the year to purchase meat from a farmer, maple syrup, coconut oil, coconut flour, almond flour, pinto beans and for canning fresh fruit, applesauce etc.  I will continue to share some of these other sources too.

Our coconut products are one of the big items we buy in bulk.  Our house uses coconut oil for most of our cooking, baking and skin care and if you just run into a store and buy jar, it gets really pricey. So this past weekend we spent our friday night breaking down 15 gallons of coconut oil (I know, I know, an exciting Friday night..but lets be honest, we have 3 little boys).  We have been ordering 5 gallon buckets and breaking them down into mason jars for the last 2 years and love the convenience of having a 6 month to year supply on hand at all times.  This time around we had a few neighbors and friends join in and we broke down 15 gallons for a few families (the mess is the exact same, whether you break down 1 bucket or 3).  A 5-gallon bucket has lasted us on average for 8 months.

We purchase all our coconut oil, our coconut flakes & chips and coconut flour from Tropical Traditions.  We love their expeller-pressed coconut oil for our general day to day use, love their coconut flour and also like their lotions and lip moisturizers. (And a side-note, we also love Tropical Traditions for their ethical trade practices and their commitment to Non-GMO products)  To further save money, I always wait to place an order until I can get a free shipping code, which comes up about once a month or so.

If you have ever wondered…this is what 15 gallons of coconut oil, broken down into mason jars, looks like.

CoconutOil_TropicalTraditions

 

 

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