Where it all started.... Salmon Spinach Quinoa Burgers

Salmon Spinach Quinoa Burgers 

These are one of my favorite meals to cook on a Sunday night or Monday night and use as lunches throughout the week.  I love serving these with a fresh salad full of cucumbers, red peppers, tomatoes and red onions (sorry not sorry Scott Conant) and my basic vinaigrette which will be posted in addition to this.  You can also throw them in a wrap with the Creamy Dreamy Lemon Dill dressing, or seriously out of a Tupperware from the fridge at 2 in the morning

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Ingredients

1 lb salmon fillet diced, ask the fish guy to remove the skin for you

1 medium shallot, diced

1 8oz bag spinach, chopped

1 cup cooked quinoa, follow the package instructions

2 tbsp. Dijon mustard

1 clove garlic minced (optional)

2 large eggs

¼ to ½ cup panko (I use whole wheat panko)

Salt and freshly black pepper, to taste

1 tbsp. coconut oil or whatever oil you use to cook

This yields approximately13, 4oz patties.

Instructions

Dice the salmon and place in large mixing bowl. Add the shallot, Dijon mustard, egg, salt and pepper, cooked quinoa and set aside.

In a medium saute pan add the chopped spinach and saute, sometimes I saute extra spinach and leave the leaves whole and let them cool and chop them after so that I can have some sauteed spinach for another meal but it is entirely up to you.  I have never made them with frozen spinach and I wouldn’t suggest it strictly because they can end up very soggy and you want a nice firm patty.

Add spinach mixture to salmon mixture to the quinoa mixture, add the panko, wash your hands, roll up your sleeves and mix together.  If the idea of this schkeeves you too much you can throw on a fresh pair of food handling gloves that you can get at most home stores or on Amazon.com for a couple of bucks, I used to do this when I hated how raw chicken felt, ultimately I ran out one day and got over it, no one is in your kitchen and if they are, you’re cooking them dinner, tell them not to judge you! If you feel they are still too wet and won’t hold a shape add more panko slowly until they hold a shape in your hands. I weigh them on a food scale so that they are the exact same size for nutritional purposes but you do not have to, a 4 oz patty is about 200 calories and 12 grams of protein. Shape all of your patties and let them set for 10 minutes, this is a great time to wash your prep area or prep your salad or sides.

Add your oil to a frying pan, I normally use the same pan I sautéed the spinach in, wipe it out with a paper towel and save yourself the time cleaning another pan.  Place the patties in the pan, don’t over crowd it or else they won’t brown, cook on each side about 3-4 minutes each side.  Have a plate with paper towels, or brown bags prepared so that you can place the cooked patties on them to pull any excess oil out of them.  At a later date I will test baking the patties and see how they turn out.  

This is far and away one of my favorite recipes and I chose to do it as my first recipe for all of you because it is simple, cost effective and versatile.  

Enjoy!