Of Salmon Croquettes and Other Fishy Things

So last night I had salmon patties on the menu for dinner. I've made salmon croquettes and salmon patties before, and while they've tasted decent, I've never felt like they lived up to how I thought they should taste. I've followed a recipe for salmon patties in my Better Homes and Garden cookbook for the newlywed and have thought it was lacking. I've followed a recipe in Grandma's Kitchen recipe box for salmon croquettes and have still been unsatisfied. The croquettes were definitely better, having more flavor and all, but they are fried in crushed potato chips, so of course they're gonna be tastier! I have been wanting a tastier, yet healthier option. So I searched the internet for a few moments to get some ideas of some "normal" ingredients people put in these things, and found that most people are uninspired when it comes to canned fish (sorry, but it's the truth). Pooh! Well, I figured I could try my own thing, with perhaps a few ideas from other recipes here and there. Here's what I came up with:

1 can of salmon, flaked and de-boned (this is such a pain in the butt!)
two green onions
1/3 cup of quick oats
1/4 mayonnaise (preferably made with olive oil)
3/4 tsp parsley (dried)
1 1/2 TBSP Parmesan cheese
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/8 tsp garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

All of these lent the salmon an almost horseradish-like taste. If you don't like horseradish, I'm sorry. :/ I happen to love it, so this made me happy, and also made me wonder what it would've tasted like if I had had horseradish on hand. Hmmm... I might try that next time. :D

I loved the slight kick these had to them, due to the addition of mustard and lemon juice. They had a good flavor with the mix of the garlic powder and Parmesan cheese (I still think I should've used more, but I'm a cheese lover and tend to over do it...) You could put another herb in here like dill, but I don't like dill and was rather afraid to ruin a good thing with another herb. Parsley is rather inoffensive and tends to pair well with almost anything you cook, so I went with that for safety. You really can't go wrong with sprinkling a little bit of it here and there on your cooking!

Overall I was very pleased with the way these patties turned out. I fried them in a little bit of high quality organic olive oil (heavenly stuff!) and served them with oven baked potatoes and mixed frozen veggies (yes, I skimped on one of the side dishes--bite me). Everytime I've made salmon patties/croquettes before, I've needed to dip them into some kind of sauce, since they usually don't have enough flavor to stand on their own. These babies, though, were good enough alone!

Until my next adventure...