I always see the biggest, most beautiful pieces of salmon at my local butcher that I just can’t resist. After getting it home and cooking it up with dillicious sauce I usually end up with quite a bit leftover that I don’t know what to do with. I am not a huge fan of eating leftover fish “as is,” so I am always looking for ways to recreate it. With salmon, it usually ends up in scrambled eggs, wrapped in nori, or as salmon cakes.

This weekend I had some leftover salmon and made up a batch of salmon cakes that are just too good not to share. You would never know that you are eating last night’s salmon because they take on a whole different character that almost makes them better than the fresh dinner you had 24 hours earlier. Not only are the salmon cakes amazing on their own, but the salmon cake leftovers are awesome under a poached egg the next morning.

Before I get to the recipe for salmon cakes, let’s talk about running. It feels like summer here in Lake Tahoe. Today, it got up to 61 degrees and the bulbs are starting to break through the earth and turn into beautiful flowers. As much as I like the weather for running, I am really hopeful we will get some more snow before the winter is over. We’ve hardly had any the past three years and I feel like I just keep donating my money to the local ski resort for my season pass that I hardly use. (End rant)

Anyways, the good weather is nice for one thing. Getting outside and running. This week I felt pretty strong during my runs and am slowly starting to take on more mileage. Coming off a hiatus, I always have trouble sticking to the 10% rule. If you don’t know what that is, it is said that runners should never increase their total mileage for each week by more than 10% from the previous week. Doing so is supposed to gradually ease you back into it and ward off injury. For example, last week I ran a whopping 10 miles (Sunday through Saturday). Sticking by the 10% rule, I should not have run more than 11 miles this week (10% of 10 miles is 1 mile, so 10 miles +1 mile = 11 miles). As much as I wanted to run today, I really held back so that I wouldn’t go over any more than I already had (#runnerproblems). So here is what my week looked like:

• Monday 3/9 – Rest. Really, really sore from strength training the day before.
• Tuesday 3/10 – Easy 2 mile run. Still really sore from strength training on Sunday. Trying to get this old body back in shape is NOT the same as it was when I was in high school!
• Wednesday 3/11 – Strong 2.5 mile run. I really wanted to go further on this one, but held back.
• Thursday 3/12 – Rest.
• Friday 3/13 – 2 mile run in the morning before work so I could walk with my mom in the afternoon. Glad I planned this out because we were able to take the dogs to the beach in the afternoon and it was beautiful!
• Saturday 3/14 – 3.5 mile run in the morning. It was cool and the perfect weather for running. Although I felt pretty strong, my legs were definitely heavy the last mile or so.
• Sunday 3/15 – Rest. Tried to make it through my Yoga for Runners DVD but only got to about 15 minutes or so. For some reason, I can’t stand yoga. It is sooooo boring. How do people do it? I am hoping I will get through the whole DVD one day and then be able to provide you with a review. In the meantime, the struggle is real.

That pretty much sums up my week of training. How was your week?

Okay, now for the fun stuff. Salmon cake recipe time!

Salmon Cakes

Ingredients:

• Leftover baked salmon (I had about 6 oz. for this recipe), flaked into small pieces
• 1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 red onion, finely diced
• 1 large stalk celery, finely diced
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
• 1 tablespoon chopped green onion
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• 1 tablespoon Annie’s dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons almond flour
• A few dashes of Frank’s Red Hot sauce
• 1 egg, whisked
• Coconut oil (I like Tropical Traditions)

Directions:

1. Saute the bell pepper, onion, and celery in about 1 teaspoon of coconut oil over medium-high heat. Once they start to become soft (about 5 minutes), add the Old Bay seasoning and saute a few minutes longer. Transfer to large glass bowl.
2. Add all other ingredients to the bowl with the veggies and mix well. If the mixture looks a little too wet, add more almond flour until it reaches a consistency that will hold together (error on the conservative side when adding the almond flour, you don’t want to add too much).
3. Wipe out the frying pan that you sauted the veggies in and melt about 1 tablespoon of coconut oil over medium-high heat.
4. Once the oil has melted, scoop about 2-3 tablespoons of the salmon mixture into your hand and form a patty. Transfer directly to the pan. Repeat until all the mixture is gone. I made 4 small patties.
5. Cook on each side for about 5 minutes until golden brown. Be careful when flipping the salmon cakes as not to make them fall apart.
6. Serve with whatever you want (I like roasted sweet potatoes and spicy aioli) and enjoy!

Try these out the next time you have leftover salmon, or make salmon just so you can try these. Let me know what you think in the comments section.