Salmon Croquettes

As children and teenagers we all had moments where we promised, "in my house it will be different".  As a child I was really not a very big fan of leftovers. The food we ate always tasted good, but for some reason the Margolin clan (that would be me and my 6 brothers) wasn't very fond of leftovers. As a matter of fact, my brothers and I were known to purposefully not put foods away so that we wouldn't be able to eat them the next day. Back then we thought we were quite smart  - looking back I'm not sure how wise that plan was :)

Being a wife and mother and the primary cook in my home, I have come to embrace leftovers. Sometimes the leftovers get eaten for lunch, other times I serve them again for dinner and there are times where the foods in my fridge get repurposed and turned into something else. When I happily serve that chicken soup another night I sometimes chuckle to myself at how the tables have turned. When they make my life easier, leftovers can seem miraculous!

This past Friday I baked a beautiful side of salmon for Shabbat dinner. After Shabbat there was still a fair amount of fish resting in the refrigerator. On Sunday evening I pulled the fish from the fridge and quickly turned it into salmon croquettes. The salmon got used and we ate a completely different dish - what could be better than that? I have to say they were delicious, and I was pleased that my kids ate them - and liked them - after I said they were salmon latkes. 

So the next time you find yourself with leftovers, do a little thinking and see what you can create with them.

Salmon Croquettes

10 oz baked salmon (skin and bones removed)

2 eggs

6 tablespoons cornflake crumbs

1 tablespoon chopped onion flakes

2 teaspoons canola oil

Salt, pepper and garlic if needed (when I made them my fish already had enough seasoning)

Place fish in a bowl and mash up with a fork. Add chopped onion flakes, eggs and cornflake crumbs. Mix well. Heat the canola oil in a non-stick skillet. Form the fish mixture into patties and place in the skillet. Allow to fry for about 5 minutes on medium. Flip and cook for another few minutes. Remove and serve. 

(We dipped ours in ketchup, but you can also do a mayo-dill dip.)