Eat Shrink And Be Merry

This morning I was cooking LIVE on CH-Hamilton, making a DELICIOUS salmon burger recipe while promoting our new line of Hallmark “grEATing” cards. We had many requests after the show for the recipe, because it’s scrump-DILLY-icious (made with lemon and feta and dill and honey mustard and other good stuff), so I’m posting it here. This recipe is FOR SURE one of my top-10 favourite recipes I’ve ever developed for any of our cookbooks or magazine columns or TV show. It’s a must-try recipe and a great way to get some healthy fats into your diet.

Heart-Smart Salmon Burgers

1-1/2 lbs (680 g) boneless, skinless salmon fillet, cut into chunks
1 cup fresh whole wheat bread crumbs (see tip below)
1/2 cup crumbled light feta cheese (2 oz)
1/4 cup finely minced shallots or red onions
1 tbsp honey mustard
1 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 egg
1 tbsp minced fresh dill
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1/4 tsp each salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place salmon chunks in a food processor. Pulse on and off until salmon is chopped into very small pieces. (If you don’t have a food processor, use a very sharp knife and mince the salmon by hand.) Transfer salmon to a large bowl. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well using your hands.

Form mixture into 6 patties, about 3/4 inch thick. Place patties on a large plate, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour. (Chilling will help the patties hold their shape while cooking.)

Spray a large, non-stick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat. Add patties and cook for about 4 minutes per side, until salmon is cooked through. Be careful not to overcook the patties, and be gentle when flipping them so they don’t fall apart. If you don’t have a high-quality (unscratched!) non-stick pan, you might want to cook the patties in a tablespoon or two of olive oil.

If desired, serve patties on small, whole wheat hamburger buns with sliced tomatoes, lettuce, and honey mustard, or top them with a spoon of low-fat tartar sauce (see recipe below) and serve with a salad.

Makes 6 servingsPer serving: 236 calories, 10.4 g total fat (2.8 g saturated fat), 26 g protein, 9 g carbohydrate, 1.1 g fiber, 106 mg cholesterol, 333 mg sodium

Cooking TipsFresh bread crumbs are simple to make: Just break up a slice of bread (preferably whole wheat) into several smaller pieces and place in a food processor or mini chopper. Pulse on and off a few times to create fluffy soft crumbs. An average slice of bread will make about 1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs. Dry, store-bought bread crumbs are more compact (and drier, of course!), so if a recipe calls for fresh crumbs and you’d rather use dry, cut the amount in half. To make low-fat tartar sauce for this and other yummy fish dishes, mix together 1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise, 1 tbsp minced fresh dill, 1 tbsp sweet pickle relish, and 2 tsp each prepared horseradish and freshly squeezed lemon juice. Refrigerate until ready to use.