![\"photo](\"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/photo-12.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nLIFE!\u00a0 And, protein!\u00a0 Sometimes\u00a0an ordinary day can be made special with a special meal.\u00a0\u00a0This looks swanky, but is simple to make and surprisingly inexpensive.\u00a0 Let’s get the lentils going and then start the salmon patties, er… “croquettes” if you want to sound fancy.<\/p>\n
1 cup of pink lentils – sorted, debris removed – get them ready and set aside<\/p>\n
1\/2 cup chopped\u00a0red onion<\/p>\n
1\/2 cup chopped sweet red pepper<\/p>\n
Into a medium saucepan over medium heat, place the\u00a0onion and red pepper.\u00a0 Drizzle enough olive oil onto the veggies so they don’t stick and cook for 3-4 minutes.\u00a0 Once the veggies are soft, add the pink lentils and 2 cups of chicken broth.\u00a0 You may need more liquid later, but wait and see.\u00a0 We want a nice, thick base for the salmon patties so the lentils do not need to be wet and soupy.\u00a0 When the lentils come to a boil, reduce heat to simmer and place a lid on the pan.\u00a0 Keep an eye on them, but let them go a little longer than usual – about 25 minutes.\u00a0\u00a0 Make sure you have enough liquid so the lentils don’t stick to the bottom.\u00a0 Add either water or chicken broth, as needed, up to 1 more cup total.<\/p>\n
For the salmon patties:<\/p>\n
1 can salmon (15 oz), drained but not squeezed – just pour off extra liquid<\/p>\n
1 Tbsp. spicy whole-grain mustard<\/p>\n
3 Tbsp. minced onion<\/p>\n
3 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley<\/p>\n
zest of one\u00a0lemon<\/p>\n
freshly ground black pepper<\/p>\n
1 tsp. Old Bay seasoning<\/p>\n
3-4 Tbsp. flour or finely ground oats – this will be more or less, depending on how much moisture is in mixture<\/p>\n
2 eggs<\/p>\n
Put everything except eggs into a bowl and mix together.\u00a0 Add eggs and stir gently.\u00a0 It should be moist and workable.\u00a0\u00a0If it seems too wet, add some additional flour.\u00a0 This is the most important part of making the patties.\u00a0 If they are too wet, they will spread and break apart.\u00a0 If they are too dry, they won’t adhere.\u00a0 Once you get the salmon mixture *right*, heat a skillet to medium low.\u00a0 You will need some fat (butter, olive oil, bacon drippings, coconut oil, whatEV)\u00a0 Add enough fat to coat the bottom of the pan.\u00a0 Using your hands and a spoon, scoop out and shape each patty, gently laying it in the hot oil.\u00a0 Leave space between each, cooking 3 at a time to total 6 patties in two batches.<\/p>\n
Hopefully, your lentils have softened up nicely in the meantime.\u00a0 If they are too wet, take the lid off and let the extra liquid bubble off.\u00a0 Stir and break them up to form a nice very-thick-soup-like consistency.<\/p>\n
To serve:\u00a0 spoon out about a half cup of pink lentils into a bowl.\u00a0 Place 1-2 salmon patties artistically on one side.\u00a0 Crumble\u00a02 slices of\u00a0 extra-crisp bacon in a small bowl and sprinkle on top.\u00a0 (See: BACON post)\u00a0\u00a0Place oven-roasted broccolini on the side (See:\u00a0 Oven Roasted Veggies post)\u00a0and you are there<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" …with a garnish of bacon and a side of oven-roasted broccolini.\u00a0 Oh, my! \u00a0What are we celebrating?? LIFE!\u00a0 And, protein!\u00a0 Sometimes\u00a0an ordinary day can be made special with a special meal.\u00a0\u00a0This looks swanky, but is simple to make and surprisingly inexpensive.\u00a0 Let’s get the lentils going and then start the salmon patties, er… “croquettes” if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[22,16,7],"class_list":["post-361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-decadent","tag-high-fiber","tag-high-protein"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=361"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":364,"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions\/364"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.downdogsaltydog.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}