I love fish cakes, just never thought of it as something to make at home.  Apparently lots of people make them!  And now I know why!  They were cheap and easy! :)  And they tasted delicious.  I know because Lee went back for more.  I looked up many recipes for different variations of fish cakes and settled on a fairly simple recipe.  I even used salt cod, which I realized later I didn't have to, but it was a good experience to de-salt fish!  Wasn't hard at all. We paired out fishcakes with homemade cole slaw (recipe below as well), and not homemade (sorry to disappoint) but organic baked beans.  

Total Time:  A long time if de-salting fish... this process took about 30 minutes (and this is the fast method), but once the fish was de-salted, the meal came together in about 30 minutes.  So, about an hour for me this night. They freeze well though, and this recipe made 13 fish cakes, so we will have them ready to defrost for another meal or for lunches. 

Ingredients:

Fishcakes:
1 package of salt cod & lots of water! 
4-5 good sized potatoes (I used a mixture of yukon gold and white potatoes) - peeled and chopped into chunks
1 onion, chopped small
2 eggs, mixed in a separate bowl
1 tsp or a bit more of garlic (I used powder for this recipe)
1 tsp or a bit more of summer savoury
A couple dashes of pepper and sea salt
Oil or butter for frying

Cole Slaw:
1 cabbage, diced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
1 red onion, diced
1/2 cup spectrum mayo (no sugar added)
1 tbsp coconut sugar
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
juice of a 1/4 lemon
dash sea salt/pepper

What to do:

1) De-salt fish the fast way - cover fish in large pot with water.  Bring to a boil.  Strain.  Repeat 2 more times!

2) Boil potatoes until almost tender.  Add fish pieces and continue boiling for a few more minutes.  

3) Strain out water and mash together.  Add all other ingredients. Mix together till it is all blended.  Careful not to work it too much as the potato becomes very starchy. 

4) Form into smallish patties, whatever size you like really.  My batch gave us about 13 patties. 

5) Heat oil or butter over medium heat.  Add 4 of 5 patties to the pan.  Brown on each side and remove from pan, set on a paper towel to absorb some of the grease from the pan.  Serve, enjoy! 


Cole slaw:

1) Mix veggies together.  

2) Mix dressing together.

3) Mix it all together!  Let sit in fridge for about 30 minutes if you can before serving. 

This meal is very quick and probably one of the healthiest meals we make for ourselves.  Your entire meal is steamed, preserving the nutrients of the veggies and the fish.  I'm tellin ya, if you don't have a bamboo steamer, you are missing out!  The clean up is easy and it's extremely easy to use.  Try this meal, as it doesn't take long to make, either. 

Time from start to finish: 20 minutes

What we used:

Fresh or thawed Salmon filets
2 lettuce leaves
1 slice of lemon each
Fresh or dried dill
Sea Salt/Pepper for taste
Veggies to steam: Broccoli and carrots

What we did:

Place a wok over high heat. Add about 2 cups of water.  Place your veggies in the bottom steamer and sit in wok.  Spead veggies out evenly.  Place salmon on lettuce leave on top steamer (lettuce is purely there to keep the salmon from falling through).  Top with dill, s/p, and lemon slice.  Put top on steamer.  Let water come to a boil and keep steaming until all food is ready to eat, usually about 10-15 minutes depending on your veggies/thickness of fish. 

Serve! 

Super easy!!  

Clean up: Rinse bamboo steamer, wash wok!!

I make my lunch every night for the next day.  I usually pack up leftovers, which definitely adds some excitement to a bagged lunch.  But on the occasion where I don't have any leftovers, I strive to make a lunch that's still as desirable.  I thought I would post this sandwich that I often make because I absolutely love it - and that is saying something, because I grew up absolutely hating tuna sandwiches! But this one is truly delicious and I think it's all because of the apple! What are your favourite bagged lunches? 

Oh and yes, the bread is homemade.  Honey whole wheat flax - no dairy or sugar!  I am a lucky girl - my husband enjoys making homemade bread - from scratch, no bread-maker machines here!  He learned how to make it from my Dad, who yes, made us homemade bread throughout my whole childhood...  I realize that this isn't the norm, but it is for me, and honestly, I'm not sure if I could have it any other way!  There was a short blip of store-bought bread in my life while I was in University, and it just isn't the same.  Plus, you honestly have no idea exactly what you're eating when it's store bought.  The more items you can make from scratch at home, you will feel better - because you'll know what you're eating and you'll actually be eating REAL food! However if you're not into the 4 hour long process of kneading and rising and cooking that is involved in bread making, you can breads like these at Farmer's Markets or specialty stores, like The Heartwood in Halifax.  

Time from start to finish: 10 minutes (For the Sandwich - NOT the bread! haha)

Food I used:
Lee's Honey Whole Wheat Flax Bread
Canned Tuna (no added salt, in water)
Spectrum Canola Oil Mayo (no sugar!)
1 Apple (Macintosh is what I typically have)
1 Celery stalk
Juice and Zest of half a lemon
Sea Salt
Freshly Ground Pepper
Shredded Carrot

What I did:

Toast bread. Drain Tuna. Combine Tuna, a spoonful of Mayo, half of the apple (sliced into bitesize) , half of the celery stalk (cut into small pieces), lemon zest and juice, salt/pepper.  Add a clump to toast and smooth out.  Add carrot and top bread.  Enjoy!