Salmon Burger

This is enough to make 1 sandwich, so just multiply by however many mouths you’re feeding.

Salmon* – generally about 200g per sandwich. Use your best judgement, I believe in you.

~1 tbsp Everything bagel spice per sandwich (dehydrated onion, dehydrated garlic, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, salt)

~1-2 tbsp Mayonnaise**

~1/2 sprig of fresh dill, finely chopped

1/2 lemon (juice and zest)

1 handful of arugula

Bun of choice – I used an everything croissant bun from Farmboy – It. Was. Amazing.

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Place parchment paper on a cooking sheet and lay salmon skin down (if you chose skin-on). Cover salmon filets with everything bagel spice and throw in the oven for ~20ish minutes or until the meat flakes with a fork.

3. While the salmon is cooking, zest and juice the lemon and add to a small bowl***, add mayo and mix. You can make this ahead of time so that the flavours can marry and live happily ever after. I do not possess the ability to plan that far ahead. If you want your dressing thicker, add more mayo.

4. Once the salmon is cooked, put it all together! I usually do bun -> salmon -> arugula -> aioli -> bun. But do whatever you want. I’m not your mom.

5. Enjoy :)

I made this because I’ve never been a fan of the ground salmon burger texture so I always avoided them and went with beef. Then one day I was having salmon and I thought, why don’t I just put this filet on a bun? The rest is history!

*Skinless or skin-on salmon is up to you. I usually find skin-on is more available at the store and I remove it (texture preference for me). The skin is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids which are polyunsaturated fats that have been shown to improve/prevent cardiovascular disease when paired with a healthy diet and exercise (see Canada’s Food Guide for more information on guidelines for a healthy diet to prevent disease). There has been concern regarding pollutants (PCB) in salmon skin (in both farmed and wild) but more recent research (2004) has shown that the level of contaminant is decreasing since being discontinued in fish feed in the 1970s. Health Canada currently does not recommend restrictions of fish consumption from the current food supply (grocery store). Wild sport fish comes with its own recommendations - check out the consumption advisory table for the body of water you plan on fishing.

Tldr****; salmon skin consumption has more health benefits than risks. Fat isn’t evil, it’s delicious. Eat it. I just don’t like yucky textures. Also, skin may be difficult to pull away when taking a bite of this juicy burger. Some like the fight. Rock on.

**Yes, I said mayonnaise. We’re making an aioli with it so if you want to avoid using mayo for whatever reason, you could use mashed avocado in its place. It’ll be a different flavour but still delicious. But also, there’s nothing wrong with using mayo. Just don’t drink it. That’s what water is for.

***I may from time to time accidentally type bowel instead of bowl. I talk about poop a lot at work. Check out the Bristol stool chart on Google for a fun way to assess your poops. You should always check your poops!

****Tldr stands for “too long didn’t read” – it’s usually a summary. There’s your Reddit lesson for the day.