By now we’ve all heard the benefits of eating more heart-healthy Omega-3s. It’s even on the carton of our daily slug of orange juice: “containing heart-healthy Omega-3s!”
But the truth is, these little magical devils are in vogue now because they do so much good. They can help with your cardiovascular system, they can help ease depression and they can help skin issues like acne and eczema.
So. There’s that. Now, do you want to pop a pill every time you want some of the magic trinity? No, maybe not — but you still want to get your essential fatty acid (which is what they are) quotient. So what’s a good, nutritionally-minded person to do?
Make some salmon burgers for goodness sakes! Salmon burgers don’t have to be expensive — hello, another boon to them, as if you needed one after reading the first paragraph — because you can use canned salmon which is really, more than a fraction of the cost, and is usually wild Alaskan salmon (read, not farm-raised, yuck!).
Forget about turkey burgers (so 1997) and mix up some of these for the health benefits. Clean Eating magazine has just the recipe, too, so no excuses.
Ingredients:
1 medium yellow onion, half diced, and half thinly sliced, divided
1 16-oz can of salmon packed in water, with or without bones, drained
2 egg whites, whisked
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs
1 medium carrote, peeled and grated
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced, divided
olive oil cooking spray
2 medium yellow squash, thinly sliced, or 12 baby patty pan squash, cut in half
sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste
additional fresh herbs, chopped or green onion curls, for garnish (optional)
Instructions:
1. In a large bowl, mix together diced onion, salmon, egg whites, mustard, bread crumbs, carrot and 1 tbsp cilantro. Using your hands, form mixture into 4 large patties, each about 4 or 5 inches in diameter.
2. Heat a large non-stick or cast-iron pan over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Mist with cooking spray. Place all 4 patties in pan for 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove patties from pan and set aside.
3. Wipe out same large non stick or cast-iron pan with paper towel, then heat over medium-high heat for 1 minute. Mist with cooking spray again. Add squash, zucchini and thinly sliced onion. Saute for about 2 minutes, then add 1 tbsp of water. (The water will help steam vegetables and cook them more thoroughly.) Cook for another 5 minutes or until squash and zucchini are tender and onion is translucent. When vegetables are finished cooking, add remaining 1 tbsp cilantro and mix. Remove from heat. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Serve 1 patty with 3/4 cup vegetables and additional herbs.
Photo: Stroinski@sxc.hu