Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Salmon

This is an appetizer based upon a recipe found at EatingWell. It’s the first time I’ve made it. I make smoked salmon every year and then can some of it. Our favorite way to eat these pint jars of smoked salmon is to mix one jar with a half-pound of warmed cream cheese and serve it with crackers. Leftovers? Never. It’s delish.

When a recipe calls for smoked salmon it’s hard to know what they mean. Usually, I think they mean a style of smoked salmon like lox. Our smoked salmon is more what you would call kippered. It’s very sweet and dry. For this recipe where it calls for 8-oz smoked salmon, I opened a pint jar of my smoked salmon. I flaked it with my fingers to make it very fine so it would mix well with the other ingredients. Making the little patties was quite difficult because I just wanted to get a spoon and start eating the mixture. It smelled SO good! The cakes turned out delicious, but I think the sauce leaves a little to be desired. A cream cheese sauce with a little dill might be just the ticket.

Quinoa Cakes with Smoked Salmon Recipe

Prepare the quinoa by bringing 1-1/4 cup water and ¾ cup quinoa to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until the water is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and spread out to cool, about 15 minutes. I set my pan outside, it’s -10 degrees F today, so it didn’t take that long to cool. Ha!

To prepare the sauce combine 1 cup reduced-fat sour cream with 1-1/2 tsp. finely grated lemon zest and ½ tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice.

To prepare the cakes: Mix together 8-oz. salmon, 2 large eggs plus 1 egg white, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup finely chopped scallions (green onions), 1 tsp. dried dill weed, 1 tsp. lemon zest and pepper (to taste) with the quinoa. The wonderful smell will drive you crazy at this time.

Using your hands, thoroughly combine and squeeze the mixture to bring it together. Using 2 rounded tablespoons of the mixture for each and keeping your hands damp (wet hands is important to keep mixture from sticking to them!), form 32 small cakes, about ¾ inch thick and 2 inches wide, pressing firmly to help them hold together. Place the cakes on a large baking sheet and/or a large plate. I ended up with 24 cakes, so a little too large, but still yummy.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes (or up to 6 hours).

Use a couple tablespoons of olive oil to coat your skillet and fry the cakes in three batches until golden brown.

Serve warm or at room temperature, garnished with sauce.