Our daughter Elena has become quite the little eater. She is definitely good with finger food and prefers to feed herself, but hasn’t quite master the art of using a spoon yet. This presents a little bit of a challenge for us because we don’t usually eat that much food which is easily consumed in bite-size chunks.

This has forced us to branch out a little. Our new goto menu option is salmon. They are easy to whip up using random pantry staples, freeze well and best of all, Elena loves them. We got the idea from a kids recipe book. However, this doesn’t mean they don’t make for a good adult size meal, as long as you scale them up a bit.

Can salmon is perfect for this recipe. It is pretty cheap and almost always made from wild fish. The canned salmon I have gotten usually ends up being the mid-section of two salmon crammed in the can, including some skin and bones. The can is then sealed and heated, cooking the salmon. When you open the can, drain it and then empty it into a bowl. It is pretty easy to remove the skin and large back bones. I wouldn’t worry too much about the smaller bones. They are usually pretty soft and after getting mashed up and cooked, are not noticeable. The bones actually act as a good source of calcium.

The salmon is pretty low in fat, so you need to add an egg or two and some bread crumbs or corn meal in order to bind it together. There are an endless number of flavorings and seasonings you can add. I like adding capers, Dijon mustard and Japanese pepper for seasoning. For a finishing touch, I roll the patties in panko bread before cooking them.