Well I’m pretty pleased with this one. I am on a mish to help poor beleaguered mums (and some dads!) find healthy recipes the whole family will eat and I’m sure this is one of them. As beans can be quite tricky to get in to kids I have replaced the potatoes, which are more usually found in fishcakes, with butter beans which are whizzed up with spring onions and herbs so there are no bits – it’s the same texture as mashed potato and tastes lovely. Add the salmon to the bean mix, coat with ground almonds and hey presto! Beans and nuts into the kids without them even noticing.
SERVES: 4
KITCHEN TIME: 10 mins prep, 20 mins cooking
INGREDIENTS:
250g salmon fillets
1 tin of butter beans, drained and rinsed
3 spring onions, sliced
1 small handful flat leaf parsley, leaves picked and chopped
1 small handful dill, fronds picked and chopped (optional, leave out if you don’t like dill!)
Juice of ½ a lemon
Sea salt
Black pepper
Ground almonds to coat (can also use flour or fresh breadcrumbs if not GF)
1 lemon, cut in to 4 wedges
PREP TIP: This is so great because you don’t have to cook any potatoes first like you do with regular fishcakes. You can cook the salmon in advance and keep it in the fridge and then it’s a matter of minutes to get these in the oven.
METHOD: Pre-heat the oven to 200˚C. Fry the salmon fillets in a large frying pan on a medium heat for a few minutes each side until just cooked through. Remove the skin, place the cooked salmon in a large bowl and break up with a spatula. While the fish is cooking, place all the other ingredients, apart from the lemon wedges and ground almonds, into the food processor and blitz for a couple of minutes to a smooth, mashed potato-like consistency. Make sure to taste and add more lemon juice, salt or pepper if needed. Combine the bean mixture with the salmon. Form into balls (around 40g each) and roll lightly in the ground almonds. Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and if you have an oil spray, gently spray over the top of the salmon bites – this will help them to brown. Place in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Serve with a lemon wedge on the side.
SERVING TIP: A dipping sauce of Greek yogurt with chopped fresh herbs is a good addition. Alternatively, Dijon mustard is lovely.
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