Salmon Patties

• 1 can of salmon, drained
• 1T chopped parsley (fresh or dried)
• 2t herbs de provence (or other spices)
• 1t onion powder
• 3T mayonnaise
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper
• oil

Mix everything together.  It’s going to seem a little too wet.  Just let it sit for 15 minutes to thicken up.  I measured these out and dropped into a nonstick skillet using a standard ice cream scoop.  It made 7 patties.  I bought the salmon on sale for under $3 for the can.  That probably made these about 50 cents each.  Yikes!  What a bargain!

Variations on the salmon patties

Now, there’s a ton you could do with this recipe.  I’d keep the salmon and eggs but you could go crazy with the rest.  For a more traditional, crab cake-style recipe you could go with Old Bay instead of the herbs de provence.  If you don’t have Old Bay, it’s mainly celery salt with a few other minor seasonings.  I bet a Jamaican jerk seasoning would also be really tasty in this.

Salmon patty sauces

I served this with a sauce that didn’t really go that well, but was super tasty.  It was kind of like a chipotle mayo but with a more subtle and refined flavor from the use of Spanish smoked paprika instead of chipotle.  It would probably be better with a remoulade or tartar sauce, though. 

Pimenton dip

• 3T mayo
• 2T sour cream
• 2T cream
• 1t Spanish smoked paprika
• 1t onion powder
• salt and pepper

Mix it up and let sit for 30 minutes for flavors to mingle.  Add more or less cream to change the thickness.

You could make this with ground or canned chipotle and it would be really tasty.  Adjusting ratios of mayo, sour cream and cream to suit the purpose.  More or less cream will make it thicker or thinner.  You could actually use water too.  I just used cream because I had it handy.  This would be awesome with some plain potato chips.

Quick Tartar Sauce

• 3 tbsp mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp sweet pickle relish

This is as easy as it gets. Mix and enjoy.

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So, as with most of my recipes, this recipe should really be titled (Here’s What You Do When You Don’t Have The Right Ingredients To Make) Spinach-Artichoke Dip.  The key was finding the “magic” with the standard recipe and making sure I, at least, had the right ingredients to recreate that magic.  It turns out the special flavor in spinach-artichoke dip doesn’t come from the  spinach or artichokes- its the cheeses and raw garlic!  I know this because I tasted along the way and it was pretty blah until there was this big bang of flavor as soon as those items came together.

The actual recipe below is for a pretty spinachy dip.  It turned out to be more flexible this way and I used it as a dip, sandwich spread, inside a hamburger (Jucy Lucy), in an omelete, and as a small, low-carb side dish.  In fact, it’s been almost a week and I still have some left that I’m working through slowly.  I was thinking about stuffing the rest into mushroom caps and baking.  YUM!

Quick Hot Spinach Dip

• 1 bag frozen spinach, defrosted and liquid squeezed out
• 8oz cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup mozzarella, grated
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper

Mix up the ingredients and microwave for a few minutes.  Stop and stir about every 30 seconds until it’s mixed well.  It doesn’t really need to be baked like many recipes but it would be nice placed in a ceramic dish, topped with some extra cheese and then broiled for a few minutes to melt the cheese.

I really think the key ingredients are the cream cheese, mayo and garlic.  The recipe above gives the classic taste minus the artichokes.   If you wanted to turn this into the real thing, I would either use half the spinach and add a can of artichoke hearts, coarsly chopped.  I think as long as you have cream cheese, mayo and garlic you can really spin off on some delicious and wild variations.  I was thinking about adding some smoked paprika and chorizo for a Spanish flavor.  Some raw vegetables like onions and celery might add a nice crunch as long as you don’t cook it too long.  It would be tasty cold but you would probably want to add in some sour cream and cut back on cream cheese or else it would be too stiff.

(Not my actual dip, but a re-enactment using paid actors)

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This recipe came from a Romanian friend of my sister whom she met while living in Montreal, Canada  Apparently, in Romania, a party just isn’t a party without this traditional salad.  I’m told that it’s common for Romanian women to roast many, many eggplants when they’re in season and then freeze them for use all year round.  I can definitely vouch for the fact that roasted eggplant freezes beautifully and is nearly as good in this recipe as freshly roasted eggplant.

In addition to this salad, she also passed along some additional Romanian dishes like a cabbage salad with bacon and caraway, and deviled eggs with a sour cream and pate sauce.  YUM!  I’ll post them soon.  Now for the recipe:

Romanian Eggplant Salad

• 2 globe eggplants, roasted
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise, homemade or store-bought

Roast eggplants in a 450F oven or on an outdoor barbecue until the insides are very soft.  Let them cool in a strainer to drain well.  When cool, remove the skin and mash the pulp by hand.  (Using a food processor for the eggplant makes it too airy.)  Puree the onion in a food processor until it starts getting soupy.  I sometimes add some water to help it along.  Squeeze out most of the moisture from the onion using a paper towel.  Add the onion and mayo to the eggplant and mix well.  Add salt to taste.

It’s traditional to serve this salad with sliced tomatoes and bread.  You can also use this as a spread on crackers or on a sandwich.  While I’d love to share a photo showing an amazing arrangement of tomatoes and bread with this salad, I usually just grab a spoon and go to town.  After you taste this salad, you might just do the same thing.  Enjoy!

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Mexican moms have been cutting up leftover tortillas to make chips and chilaquiles for millions of years.  Well maybe not millions, but a long time.   They do it partially to be frugal but also those left over tortillas make the BEST tasting chips.  Below is a description of how I turned some really awful tortillas into some tasty chips to go with bean dip.

Before I get to the recipe, the point I really wanted to make here is that you can often turn bad things into good things with a little creativity.  Stale bread makes great croutons, french toast and bread pudding.  Leftover meat can be chopped for tacos or sliced for sandwiches.  Just be creative- but don’t go too far.  Any way you “slice” it, rotten meat is rotten meat.

Ok, now on to the recipe…

I had these Brown Rice tortillas from Trader Joes that were bad- and I mean really bad.  I ate a few but neglected them in the fridge for a week and a half because I couldn’t bear the thought of another crumbly wrap.

I cut them up with scissors into strips and then put them on a foil-lined baking sheet.

A little nonstick spray and 10 minutes at 350F turned them into really tasty chips.

They really did rival store-bought tortilla chips but with much less fat and I didn’t waste the tortillas.  I celebrated by making a bean dip to go along:

Spicy Garlic and Chipotle Bean Dip

I love canned chipotles in adobo.  They keep in the panty forever, are cheap and a tiny bit goes a long way.  Oh yeah- they taste AWESOME!  How’s that for a frugal ingredient!  I love to pair chipotles with garlic like I did in this bean dip.  I also love chipotles, garlic and mayo as a dip for steamed artichokes.

• 1 can of refried beans.  Look for low or no fat varieties.
• 1 or 2 chipotles in adobo.  A can usually has at least 8-10.  They’re HOT so go easy!
• 1 clove of garlic, chopped finely
• 2T oil
• Salt and pepper

That’s all there is.  Just blend it all up so the chipotles mostly disappear and then microwave until it’s hot.  You WILL make this again.

Let me know if you found a creative use for something that was going bad!

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I was in the mood for something like hummus but happened to have some fresh salsa on hand.  I decided to make something that would go along with the salsa and chips (which I didn’t have, but created below.)

Mexican Hummus Dip

• 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed well
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped coarsely
• 1 lime, juiced and strained
• 1t mexican oregano
• 1/4t cayenne pepper
• 1/2t cumin
• 2T olive oil
• 4T water
• salt and pepper to taste

Put all the ingredients in the food processor, except for the water.  Blend until smooth with enough water to make a nice paste.

You might think this just looks like bean dip.  It is similar, but the lime really adds a citrusy kick that you don’t get from ordinary bean dip.  After the tart lime kick fades, the cayenne comes in and spices things up.  I wouldn’t serve this hot because of the lime.  This is something you can, instead, serve cold with chips.  Speaking of chips, I didn’t have any, so I cut up some old brown rice tortillas I had in the fridge, sprayed them with non-stick spray and put them in the oven at 350F for 10 minutes.  They were suprisingly good for having much less fat that regular chips.

Now, this recipe is far from perfect.  If I were to make it again, I might substitute a fresh jalapeno for the cayenne and might add some fresh chopped cilantro into the mix and then sprinkle some on top when serving.  Again, I try to make use of what I have on hand instead of running out and spending $$$ on more ingredients.  If you make this or a variation, let me know by posting a comment.  Enjoy!

More Mexican-inspired recipes

• Flavors of Mexico
• Mexican hummus?
• Pork Adobada

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• An appetizer with pita bread or pita chips
• A sandwich spread instead of mayonnaise
• A dip for raw vegetables like carrots, celery and broccoli
• A side dish with rotisserie chicken
• An ingredient in a falafel
• A snack by itself

Now most middle easterners would probably disagree with me, but you can make hummus in many different ways with all kinds of ingredients.  While classic hummus is nutty and earthy from the chickpeas (garbanzo beans), tahini (sesame paste) and olive oil, you can go crazy with the ingredients.  I do love the traditional ingredients with lots of lemon and raw garlic.  Here is my standard recipe:

Garlicky Hummus

• 1 can of chickpeas (rinsed)
• 2T Tahini
• 2T Olive oil
• 2T lemon juice
• 3-5 cloves of garlic
• 1/2t salt
• 1/2t cumin
• About 4T water
• Fresh ground pepper

Put all these ingredients (except water) into the food processor and blend.  Add water until it turns into a smooth paste.  The longer you blend the smoother it will get.  Adjust the amount of tahini, olive oil, lemon and garlic to suit your taste.  To serve as an appetizer, spread onto the center of a large plate and garnish with a sprinkle of paprika and cumin, drizzle of olive oil and some fresh, chopped parsley.  Serve with pita bread.  YUM!

Variations

There are an infinite number of variations.  Consider these ideas:

• Roast the garlic before adding it to the mix.
• Add sun-dried tomatoes.
• Substitute a different kind of beans for the chickpeas.  Pinto beans give you a creamier texture with a slightly different taste.
• Substitute a nut butter for the tahini.  I’ve never tried this but I think cashew butter would be good.
• Substitute a nut oil for the olive oil.  Walnut or hazelnut oil adds a nutty flavor.

As I write this, I’m imagining a mexican-themed hummus using pinto beans, onions. cumin and oregano.  Then served as a dip for tortilla chips garnished with chopped cilantro and cotija cheese.  Mmmm… I better run out and get some chips!!!

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