Quick and Delicious AIP Salmon Burger
These are simple to make, don’t fall apart, are incredibly good for you, AND they taste delicious!!
All good things when doing the AIP… or are a person who eats things.
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Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment or a silicon matt.
Ingredients
2 Cups salmon (approx), cooked and flaked. (I’ve never tried with canned, but I assume it would work with 2 or 3 cans of drained salmon. If you’re thrifty you can save the juice and use it in a soup that requires fish sauce, or in salmon chowder.)
1 Ripe-ish good sized plantain, peeled and roughly chopped. This is what will hold everything together so don’t skip it, also you don’t want it to be too green. The sticky factor of ripe plantains make a great binder for things like this!
If you’re eating eggs you can swap the plantain for an egg… probably 1 would do.
Small handful parsley, roughly chopped
2 Green onions, roughly chopped
About a TBSP of fresh basil, roughly chopped
Sea salt and fresh pepper to taste (about a 1/2 tsp of each)
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice, about a TBSP.
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Instructions
Pulse plantains, herbs, salt and pepper, and lemon juice in a food processor until chopped and mixed together. (If you don’t have a food processor you could finely chop the herbs and shred the plantain in a grater… watch you fingers! When plantains are ripe they’re hard to hold on to!)
Add salmon and pulse just until combined.
Shape into preferred pattie size, and carefully place on prepared cookie sheet. I like using a measuring cup to scoop the mixture out and keep the size of my patties consistent, this helps with baking time. 1/3 or 1/2 cup work nicely, but you do you!
Bake for 10 minutes the carefully flip the patties and bake for 10 more minutes.
Serve and enjoy!
I like to serve these for a simple lunch made ahead of time with a mountain of greens, a sprinkle of capers, and some sharp balsamic dressing.
They’re also delicious with a drizzle of homemade mayo, a pile of mashed avocados, or my AIP mango salsa!
(See final thoughts for a few more serving ideas).
Always with a good sized salad to get those phytonutrients in. Eat the rainbow! These have the added bonus of having herbs in them which are also packed with nutritious goodness.
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Nutritional Breakdown of WHY you should eat these.
WILD Salmon is one of the best sources of the long-chain omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA.
EPA and DHA are said to decrease inflammation, lower blood pressure, reduce risk of cancer and improve the function of cells that protect your arteries.
Salmon is also a great source of protein and it’s packed with B vitamins, including B1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 9, and 12.
B vitamins are BOSS! The are used to turn food into energy, create and repair DNA, control inflammation, and protect brain AND heart health.
Salmon is also loaded with selenium (bone health, thyroid function, and cancer reduction), potassium (control blood pressure, reduced risk of stroke, and water retention), and it has an antioxidant called astaxanthin which lowers the risk of heart disease by reducing LDL (“bad”) cholesterol and increasing HDL (“good”) cholesterol.
It has other incredible things going for it as well and places like https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/11-benefits-of-salmon#TOC_TITLE_HDR_5 can break it down for you if you want more information!
The best part about salmon is that it’s delicious and super versatile!
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Final Thoughts
This is a great salmon option for kids (or grownups) who think they don’t love salmon. They do, they just don’t know it yet… kidding! (Mostly.)
If you have a non salmon lover on your hands try serving this in a bun of your choice, or wrapped in lettuce, with homemade mayo, capers, and an avocado wedge. Serve it alongside my crispy sweet potato fries, and a simple salad with lemon dressing for a delicious POWERHOUSE meal that is good for you in a million ways.
Or dip them into homemade basil sauce (literally just basil in a blender with olive oil, a splash of fresh lemon juice and salt and pepper) or pesto for a quick flavourful snack.
Feel free to make these bite sized for snack plates or as a fun way to serve something new to the kids, or pack in lunches. Just be sure to reduce cooking time to maybe 5 minutes per side.
And if you want a more crispy outside, simply cook these in a hot cast-iron pan over med heat with about a TBSP of coconut oil in the pan. Make sure to leave space in the pan so the patties get an even distribution of heat. You might need to do more than one batch.
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This is a version of something my mom made a million times growing up. Salmon was abundant back in those days and we could catch it casting off the rocks out front of our house.
Now we need to be conscious of the salmon we eat. It’s good to look for sustainably caught wild salmon and REALLY enjoy it with gratitude in our hearts when we eat it. (This apparently improved digestion as well — so don’t hold back on your thoughts of gratitude while eating!)
It’s a wild and amazing thing to get to enjoy, and it’s always good to be grateful. ;)
***
I still remember the first time I reeled in a salmon.
Standing on the bow of our little boat, my dad was still living with us back then and he was coaching me through the process.
When to let the salmon run, letting the line fly out of the rod at an imposible rate as the salmon raced away… tiring itself out. Then, the second it slowed, digging the rod into your gut and rooting yourself into the boat (that is rocking in waves) with all the strength of a mighty tree. Rod tip up, even as the strain of it all bends it near in half. I was sure it would snap my little fishing rod, but my dad told me to hold steady and winde the fish in with every ounce of strength that I had… then, when it got too hard, let it run again.
In my memory this felt like it took hours, and it might well have!
My brother was there too, cheering me on. I remember feeling proud and terrified.
I was sure the fish was a whale and would pull me into the ocean, certain my fishing rod was going to snap in half and I would lose the fish and my rod and it would all be wasted. Or worst of all, I would need to ask for help… again.
I think I must have been about 5 or 6 years old at the time.
By the time I landed that magnificent fish the both of us were bone tired, hardly able to move. I am certain I had a nap after that. Letting the gentle bobbing of the boal and warm sun on my back lull me into a happy dream.
There aren’t a lot of great memories about times with my father, but this is one of them.
It’s an interesting awareness to have: the fact that even when memories of certain times in life are filled with trauma and hardness, there is often another part of the picture that can be easy to forget. It can be easier to erase out of anger and a need to protect our hearts.
Those parts are often made up of tiny fragments of light that can get lost in the shadows — but they are worth pulling together.
For me it has been acknowledging those fragments that have helped me heal in a million ways.
Anyway! I hope you enjoy these salmon cakes! As you can tell, salmon and me go way back.
Food is like that.
Let me know how they turn out for you and if you try making them with canned salmon or used an egg instead of the plantain.
I love hearing from you always.
Gwen
