salmon cake sliders with arugula, aged white cheddar + lemon-caper mayo
My grandmother used to make a simple salmon dish that was out of this world. It was baked with tomato, onion, parsley and lots of olive oil and lemon. She served it with crispy toast by sopping it up with the olive oil mixture from the salmon. Salmon and toast sounds like an unusual combination, but it was lip-smacking delicious.
I knew when I had children, I wanted them to be exposed to a wide variety of foods and although they don’t like everything we place on their plate, they do love fish. Especially salmon. Their favorite way to eat it is planked on the barbeque with olive oil and sea salt, but sometimes I'll make a variation of my grandmother's dish and they really enjoy this method as well.
Although my children are fairly good eaters, they frown at leftovers. Actually, they outright refuse to eat them. I'm a firm believer if you like something once, you'll like it a second time but they're not quite there yet.
I get it.
Leftovers can seem painfully drab to little ones but frankly, some nights we just don't feel like cooking. Frantic parenthood has us on a never-ending quest for simplicity at times.
The same meal we had yesterday? Ready in five minutes?
Yes please.
Today, I thought I would try something new.
Just for them.
I took leftover salmon and gave it a fun little twist and guess what? They devoured it. Salmon cake sliders are my new favorite way to turn leftovers, into an altogether ‘new’ meal. If your children turn their noses at anything left over, go ahead and try this out. These mini burgers are crispy and loaded with flavors that aren’t overpowering for little taste buds.
They preferred it without the lemon-caper mayo despite my best effort to persuade them to try it. I realize that begging children to try new things is about as fruitful as trying to keep them away from a plate of freshly baked cookies, but sometimes, I find myself asking them to ‘please just try it. Just once?’
They seem a lot more interested in trying new things if I don’t make an issue of it. I caught my youngest dipping his pinky into the mayo mixture when he thought I wasn’t looking. He may have even liked it but it was hard to tell- he stands his ground in the most compelling way.
As I was making the sliders, I realized I could have made salmon salad sandwiches with crusty bread and herbed butter. Or salmon croquets with a tarragon-yogurt sauce. There are so many things you can do with leftover salmon and the best part is, your children will think it was all made from scratch.
C’mon. Sometimes parental 'innovation' is totally justified.
nicholetta
Reader Comments (2)
This looks great!!!! I must try it...... I might be able to get my big kid- Paul to eat it too!
I am SO trying this! It sounds amazing - and so smart. Yet another wonderful foodie post Nic )