Salmon Cake Salad

Take these frozen salmon cakes to the next level by adding them to a fresh and flavorful salad!

I was exploring the frozen food section at Aldi last week (are we surprised?) and I found these salmon power bites. They're made from salmon, edamame, spinach, broccoli, lime, scallions, cilantro and chia seeds. YUM right? That's what I thought anyway, so I had to try them.

The frozen pack includes 12 cakes and a serving size is 6 cakes for 110 calories— pretty good right? However, I thought 6 bites might not fill me up, so I decided to place them atop a yummy salad filled with onions, avocado and cilantro.

“The salmon cakes are so quick and easy to cook, the most time you'll spend on this recipe is chopping the salad.”

The directions on the box give you the option to sauté or bake the salmon cakes. I elected to sauté them, which only took about 4 minutes after quickly defrosting them in the microwave as opposed to baking them for 12-14 minutes. I sautéd the cakes in some olive oil and doctored them up with a little salt, pepper, garlic powder and basil, just to add some extra flavor.

I threw this dish together under a time crunch, so I just used what I had in my fridge at the time. I ended up sprinkling a few crushed tortilla chips on top to add some crunch and a little chipotle ranch, so the salad had an overall southwest feel, but you can really take this salad any direction you want— just customize with your favorite veggies and low-cal salad dressing!

Recipe

6 salmon power bites

1/2 avocado

1/4 cup white onion

1 tsp fresh cilantro

iceberg lettuce

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp dry basil

salt and pepper to taste

optional: chipotle ranch

Instructions

• Prep salad by chopping lettuce (however much you want), avocado, onion and cilantro.

• Top lettuce with avocado, onion and cilantro (and any other ingredients you may add).

• Defrost salmon cakes in microwave on low setting for 1-2 minutes or until thawed.

• Heat olive oil in small pan. Add salmon cakes and sprinkle with garlic powder, basil, salt and pepper. Cook for 2 minutes then flip salmon cakes and cook for two more minutes.

• Place salmon cakes atop prepped salad and add crushed chips, dressing, etc.

Prices (local)

6 oz pack salmon power bites - $4.99 Aldi

1 avocado - $0.49 Aldi

2 lb bag white onions - $1.69 Aldi

1 lb cilantro - $0.59 Kroger

1 head iceberg lettuce - $0.99 Aldi

16.9 oz bottle olive oil - $2.49 Aldi

garlic powder - $0.95 Aldi

dry basil - $0.95 Aldi