Some of you know that I have an allergic reaction to wheat, yeast and eggs (plus a few other foods). So I try to eliminate those as much as possible. Which means even foods containing just a smidge of bread or eggs to hold them together are quite literally my unraveling. And thus, blacklisted from my repertoire. Seriously, how much deprivation can one woman withstand? I love me a fish burger, but alas most use bread or bread crumbs, and almost all use eggs. What's a gal to do? Being stubborn and wanting what I want is when the thinking cap needs to be fully stretched and used to its fullest. Unscramble the mystery and find another way to hold the darn thing together.

I remember seeing a recipe a while back that whizzed up part of the protein to make a paste. Paste... that definitely holds shit together. So, with the sticky part done I needed to fill up the rest. Here is the fun part. You can, seriously, add a long list of accompaniments like; kale, spinach, corn, mushrooms and so on. Alas, I only had some basics on hand: onions, celery, peppers, scallions. So, that's what I used, and they worked out just fine. (Next time I will share experimenting with other fillings. Heck, don't wait for me. Be daring and test on your own.)

The setup of what was to become a really tasty salmon burger.

Ingredients

Burgers - Makes 6
1 lb Salmon, skin removed
1 c celery, chopped
1/3 c yellow pepper, small dice
1/3 c orange pepper, small dice
1/4 c red onion, small dice
1/4 c yellow onion, small dice
1/4 c + 2 T scallions, sliced
2 T oil
2 T capers
1 T parsley, chopped
1 t mustard
1/2 t whole grain mustard
1 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
corn meal, potato flour optional

Relish
2/3 c yogurt
2 T Kosher dill pickles, chopped
1 T parsley, chopped
1 t capers
1. 5 T lemon juice
1 T lemon zest
1/3 c sauté mixture
salt to taste

Instructions

Mise en place all the vegetables as directed. Then in a cast iron pan or skillet, sauté onions, celery, peppers, 1/4 c scallions in oil, season with salt and pepper.

Mise en place is French for "everything in place", meaning prep all your ingredients so they are ready to go.

They sure look pretty like this but go ahead and mix them together for even sautéing.

Let them cook slowly over low heat until softened. When done, set aside and let cool.

Meanwhile, cut the salmon into 3 equal parts. One part cut into 3/4" cubes. One part cut into 1/4" cubes. One part pulse in a mini food processor to create a paste.

Salmon paste that will be the glue to hold the other two together.

Next chop the parsley and rest of scallions. In a bowl, add all three portions of salmon. Then begin adding all filling ingredients: 1/2 c of the cooled sauté mixture, capers, the mustards, 2 T scallions and parsley. Mix together until well combined, then form patties, and refrigerate for 15 minutes to 1/2 hour.

Salmon prepped in 3 sizes: Big cubes, smaller cubes and a paste.

Start building the burger flavors by adding the vegetable sauté.

Then form your patties. This makes 6 medium burgers.

While the burgers are chilling out, move onto the relish. All it takes is a bowl to combine all the ingredients together, stirring until well incorporated. Then refrigerate until ready to serve.

Homemade relish is so fresh and delicious. It can be used on baked potatoes, or over rice even.

After the patties have had their chilled rest and are firm, they are ready for frying. You have choices at this point. You can either fry as is without any coating, or dust them with either potato flour* or corn grits**. Using my 6 burgers I experimented making 2 of each kind to see which we liked best. Jill and JC liked them plain with no coating. I also liked the purity of the plain one, but I liked the corn grits coating due to the outer crunch. And if you search your memory banks, or this blog you will remember that I love crunch. Test which one you like best.

NOTE:
*If you use the potato flour coating, cook these at a lower heat since the the finer powder texture cooks faster and will burn if heat is too high.
** Corn grits are a larger grain, which gives it the crunch. But if you don't want as much crunch factor, then you can use a stone ground corn meal which has a finer texture.

Corn grits. See those grains of ground corn? That's what gives it Crunch!

Potato flour is much finer, almost like talcum powder.

I like using a cast iron skillet because the pan retains the heat and gives a nice outer crust. Fry on both sides until you see the salmon turn pink, about 2-3 minutes each side, depending on thickness.

Front left has potato flour coating. Back center has the corn grits, while front right is sans any coating.

The final lineup from left to right: Potato coated, no coating, corn grits coated. You can see how much darker the potato coating got.

Serve immediately with slices of tomato, arugula or boston lettuce, and some cornichons. Any lettuce works fine, but I really enjoyed how the spicy flavor of arugula plays off the salmon, Don't forget the homemade relish. It's tangy, sweet and delicious. JC and Jill both told me that they don't usually like relish, but plopped spoonfuls of my homemade version on their burgers. The next night we had fish. They broke out the relish again!

Hey, since this is such a healthy version of a burger, no bread filling or bun, go ahead and splurge by serving up some fries or a baked potato. You can even use the relish on that, too. With Memorial Day steaming down the tracks, these could be a great addition to your outdoor party.
(Note: I would not cook these directly on the grill, as they need a flat surface in order to form a crust to help hold them together.)

Just because I need to eliminate some foods doesn't mean I can't enjoy things I love.
And just because these are sans bread and egg definitely doesn't mean they are sans flavor!

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Inspiration can leap out at you from anywhere. Literally, anywhere. And in any form. Sometimes I spot something curious and it motivates me to write a children's stories. Other times I see items and envision how I can transform them into something useful. Then, there is of course, the spying of food that inspires me. And that's how it went down this past week while shopping in our local Italian specialty market, where I happened upon the most stunning lettuces. I had never before seen pink lettuce. Or white lettuce with magenta flecks.

Figs upon figs. There was not a one leftover.

I was intrigued. I was compelled. I just had to have them. In my basket they went. I figured I would make a big lunch salad for myself. But as I waited, patiently, on the line of inefficiency, (remember, this is the same Italian market where we picked up the rack of pork the week before. Slow and slower is their mantra.) I spotted burrata. The lettuces seemed delicate and a good potential partner for burrata. A few dishes down in the same case I eyed imported figs. My dad simply adores figs, so those were a must buy whether for the salad or just for him to eat. But I pondered this combo more as I noticed a nearby plate of roasted beets. And there is was, laid out before me, one piece of this salad puzzle fitting together with every step I took. Inspiration leaped out in front of me with an exact plan for how I would showcase these lettuces. Lettuces that seemed more like flowers than vegetables. This would be a dainty palette blend of soft pinks and magentas.

The additional line up to accompany the lettuces.

Ingredients

Baby lettuces (if you can find these pink hued ones, great. If not, go with softer ones like Butter lettuce)
3-4 beets, roasted
2 pints of fresh figs, halved
1 stalk of celery, sliced
1 Burrata cheese
The Big 3 (olive oil, salt, pepper)
Dressing
3 figs
2 t Champagne vinegar
3 T fresh lemon juice
1 t lemon zest
1 small garlic clove
1.5 t salt
1/8 t pepper
1/2 c olive oil

They literally look like flowers. So stunning, I can't take my eyes off of them.

instructions

Start with the beets because they will take the longest. You can even do this part the morning of or the day before. Cut off the long leaves and scrub the beets. Place them in tin foil on a baking sheet, then season with the Big 3. Close up the tin foil to create a package. Roast at 375 for 1-1.5 hrs, depending on the size of the beets. They should be fork tender.

Beets awaiting their steam bath by way of oven roasting.

While those are roasting, you can prepare your salad platter. With such strong and gorgeous colors, it would be a shame to mix them all together. These need to stand on the own to showcase their beauty. Color blocking was the way to go. Arrange how you like but here is how I played it. I let the shape of the leaves help dictate the form, which naturally mimicked flowers.

Look at those colors. Sweet and pink and oh so dainty.

Since burrata is an extremely fresh cheese, it's best to place this in a separate small bowl, then nestle it in between the lettuces. Once your guests cut into it, the creamy center will gush all over.

The burrata looks like a big ball of mozzarella, however, it's creamy insides are the best surprise.

Make the dressing in a mini blender by placing the figs, garlic, vinegar, lemon juice and zest and buzz together. Add salt, pepper and oil for the final buzz. Set aside until ready to dress the salad.

After the beets are done, let them cool so you can peel their outer skin off and slice them. Arrange in a fan like fashion, and then tuck them into the salad, around the bowl of burrata. Then place the figs around.

Roasted to perfection, beets are hearty yet mild enough for this salad.

Slice them and then fan them out to follow in that flower like theme.

Once you have the salad arranged as you like, pour the dressing over top. Then drizzle with an aged balsamic.

Of course, you could just cut up all the lettuce, beets and figs and toss them all together. I think it would be lovely that way too. I just felt like having each color burst off the plate, spring-ing to life with joy.

With all the different hues, it was pink and pretty...and good. Pretty good.