Corn and Tomato Salad

Here's a recipe from epicurious that you've got to try.  Perhaps it's best later in the summer when those veggies are more in season, but I can't help myself when I see the first corn of the season.


Ingredients:
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 1/4 pounds tomatoes, cut into bite-size pieces
1 bunch of scallions, finley chopped, keeping white parts and greens separate
2 Tbs unsalted butter
4 cups corn kernels (from about 8 ears)

Preparation:
Whisk together oil, vinegar, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  Toss tomatoes with dressing.  While tomatoes marinate, cook white parts of scallions in butter with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 4 minutes.  Add corn and saute until just tender, about 5 minutes.  Transfer to a bowl and cool.  Stir together corn, tomatoes, and scallion greens.


I've found that it doesn't take too long to brown of the whites of the scallions.  Once I add the corn, it takes longer than 5 minutes to get it where I want it.  There really is no wrong answer though.

I also recommend going heavy on the scallions.  I usually pick up two bunches and use most of it, but that's a personal thing.  Please don't skimp on the butter or use margarine.  When you're frying up the scallions/corn and take a giant whiff, you'll understand.  The smell is delicious and the flavor of the butter really does add something.  Call me Paula Deen, but it makes a difference ya'll!

Give this recipe a try, you won't be disappointed.  It's delicious and healthy!  The sweetness of the corn makes me always say it tastes like candy.


Molly

Birthday cake!

Happy birthday Dad and Patrick!!

Cilantro Mint Chutney

Here's a recipe from Gourmet for a cilantro mint chutney.  Honestly, that combination sounded a little odd to me at first, but we had a bunch of mint from our CSA so Aleks made this recipe to use it up.  It's AMAZING! I eat it by the spoonful.  The recipe originally accompanied a recipe for chicken kebabs, which are also excellent.  I think that type of food is the best use for this chutney, but I eat the left overs on just about anything.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cilantro-Mint-Chutney-238020

Puree the following ingredients in a blender:
2 c packed fresh cilantro sprigs
1 c packed fresh mint leaves
1/2 c chopped white onion
1/3 c water
1 T lime juice
1 t. chopped small green chili, such as serrano or Thai, including seeds, or to taste
1 t. sugar
3/4 t salt, or to taste

Here's a link to the chicken kebab recipe.  Marinated chicken in yogurt is one of my favorite ways to prepare chicken for the grill, or any kind of cooking.  I think the enzymes in the yogurt break down the chicken a little bit, making it nice and tender.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Chicken-Tikkas-238070

Hope you enjoy!

-Maggie

Mom's Vegetable Curry

This morning we took a break from gardening to make a vegetable curry.  Mom cooked and I peeled, chopped and took notes so we could get a record of Mom's potato and eggplant vegetable curry that we have been eating all these years.  There is room for lots of variation here; vegetables used and exact quantities can be very frangible and in garden season could be based on availability but what we used today was:

Potatoes          8 small or 6 medium            1004 g
Carrots            5                                             199 g
Eggplant          2/3                                         302 g
Onion              2 cut coarse                            201 g
Green beans    38 oz can
Onion              1 chopped fine                       112 g
Garlic              2 cloves, minced
Ginger             ~1 inch fresh minced or 1/2 tsp dry
Butter              1+ tbl
Salt                  1/2 tsp
Gnd Mustard   1/4 tsp
Coriander        1/4 tsp
Turmeric          2 tsp
Cumin              3 tsp
Allspice            1/8 tsp
Curry Powder   1+ tbl
Hot red pepper  A little bit, to taste (see below)
Black pepper    Touch it with love
Lemon juice      2 tbl

Cut potatoes coarse - in quarter if small, in sixths if medium, or eighths if large - cut carrots, eggplant and coarse onions - slice in sixths - and place in large pot with green beans, including water/juice, and add water to nearly covered.  Place on heat to cook.

In a separate skillet, melt butter, add fine chopped onion and saute gently.  Add garlic, cook slowly.  Add spices, adding water as needed to maintain a paste.  Add fresh ginger last (if using dried ginger, add with other dried spices).

When veg come to boil, reduce to simmer and add spice paste.  Let simmer until potatoes are cooked through.  The eggplant will "disappear" into a thickener.  At the end, add the lemon juice and adjust salt and "heat" to taste.  You can make this anywhere from completely mild to flamin' hot depending on your preference and choice of pepper.  I like to use African bird pepper, which takes just a small pinch to put some heat in a dish, and prefer enough heat that the yogurt serves to cool it off when served. 

Like all spice based dishes this will do better if prepared ahead, maybe not cooked all the way through, left in the 'fridge, then reheated to complete cooking. Given time, the flavors blend.  We made this in the morning to eat for dinner, but frankly, I have always thought this curry was better left over the next day, so if you are making for company prepare a day in advance if you can work it into your schedule.

Serve with long grain rice, plain yogurt, raisins and peanuts.  I suppose you could try basmati rice, but I have been eating this with long grain rice so long that I would see it as a break with tradition.

A while back, I had some left over vegetable curry and some left over gohbi and channa masala on the same day and heated a little of both up for lunch.  As two components of a rijsttafel, they complement each other really well.  We should all get together for a great curry/rijsttafel cook-off some day soon.

Lindsey

Breakfast This Morning

Iris blooming and the Blaze rose full of buds

Salad on the hoof

It's a beautiful morning in southeastern Pennsylvania with bright sun and temperatures climbing up from the mid 50's.  Our iris are in bloom and the Blaze rose is just starting and looks to be full of buds this year.  One of the new hybrid tea roses planted this spring has its first flower bud and the garden is growing.  We got the tomatoes in and the trellises up and went to Glick's for peppers and eggplant which we will put in today.  Mom just picked the first strawberries of the season last night and suggested strawberries and yogurt on waffles for breakfast.  Well that sure trumps two-poached-eggs-on-toast, which was the best I had been able to come up with.  So I went out to the garden for spinach, endive, beet green thinnings, and green onion for a breakfast salad, a concept which I like more and more every time we have it.

Fresh strawberries and yogurt on waffles with breakfast salad.

Butternut squash garbanzo soup

I whipped this up the other night, inspired by the bits of this-and-that left in the house at the end of the grocery cycle.  Patrick says it tastes like good health going into your body.  I'm no foodie, but I do take a special pleasure in food that is healthy, cheap, and easy to cook.

Half a butternut squash, peeled, chopped into smallish pieces
15oz can garbanzo beans
1 qt box of chicken soup stock--we use Pacific Village
Carrots, onion, celery as normal for a 1-qt soup
Half bag of pre-washed spinach
Ground cumin, pinch of ground coriander, pinch of paprika, salt to taste

Sautee the onions, carrots, and celery in the bottom of the soup pot.  I use a cast-iron Dutch oven.  Add the seasoning, stir, throw in the pieces of squash, stir, add the broth.  Let it warm up a bit, then drain the garbanzos and toss in the pot.  Let it come to a boil, skim off the foam.  Turn down heat and let cook until squash is soft; the timing will depend on how big the pieces of squash are.  Taste the broth, season.  I usually need to add salt.  I would probably have added some spice for pizzazz, but cannot get away with it around here due to the mild palates of the folks I cook for.  When it's pretty much done, turn off the heat and toss in the spinach.  Stir until spinach is cooked, not long.  Puree with the hand blender until pretty smooth.  It kind of looks gross while it's getting blended, can't be helped.  Eat with bread or crackers.  Chilled overnight in the 'fridge, it makes a great dip.

Garden Quiche for Breakfast

This morning when I got home from working out, I took a short walk around the garden and found that our asparagus, which has been doing very poorly this year - we are in the process of replanting - had actually produced a few spears.  I picked the asparagus along with a large sprig of volunteer dill which had come up in the asparagus patch, ate a couple of strawberries, which are just starting to ripen, as I passed the strawberry patch, thinned a few onions from the onion row, picked a small handful of endive, baby spinach leaves, and beet thinnings, then went around back to the spring garden for a couple of bigger spinach leaves and some lettuce.

My "haul" from a morning walk thru the garden

There was not enough asparagus for a meal, but it looked like enough for a personal sized quiche, so a breakfast concept was born.  I did not have any left over rice so I cooked 1/4 cup of rice while I took a shower.

I put the rice in a small Pyrex dish and spread it with the back of a spoon, then into the oven at 400 F to dry.

Chopped asparagus, green onions, and spinach with a clove of minced garlic and the sprig of fresh dill.

Add the asparagus to the rice crust...

Add the onions...

Add the fresh chopped spinach...

Two free range eggs from our chickens...

Added a couple of handfuls of shredded cheese (one cheddar, one Swiss) to the quiche, beat the eggs with 1/3 cup skimmed milk, salt, fresh ground pepper, a dash of ground mustard, the clove of minced garlic and the sprig of chopped dill and poured over the quiche, then popped it into the 400 F oven.

The other day, Mom and I had breakfast at the Blue Sky Cafe in Bethlehem where I had a breakfast salad with my eggs and toast.  The concept was new to me, so...

The greens made a breakfast salad of endive, lettuce, spinach and beet greens. 

Quiche, salad, left over home made lemon-basil vinaigrette from last night, grapefruit juice, and coffee

Well, it was 10:00 by the time it was done, so I guess it's really brunch.  Yum.

Lindsey

Chicken Fancais Redux - Campfire Version

Andy's post about tuna fish and camping reminded me that I tried a variation on Chicken Francais to adapt it as a "one pot" camping meal.  Basically, if you pre-mix the dredge and carry it in a screw top container, substitute canned chicken white meat for fresh, and use lemon juice from concentrate, this becomes a no-refrigeration-needed meal.  I made it using two pots, one to cook the noodles (I used Pa Dutch egg noodles), the other to make the sauce with canned chicken chunks added.  Then I poured the sauce and chicken over the noodles and mixed it in to make a "one-pot" casserole type meal, freeing the other pot and burner for cooking a vegetable to accompany.   That's some pretty high tone eating for sitting around the camp fire.

Lindsey

Orzo Salad

Here's a recipe I've made the past two weekends.  It's simple, delicious, and very summery.  It's great for potlucks because it doesn't need to be refrigerated really.  Last weekend we had it along side a pig we roasted and this weekend we had it pool-side with some burgers and corn we grilled.

• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon honey
• 1/2 cup olive oil

• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 pound orzo (or riso)

• 2 cups red and yellow teardrop or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1 7-ounce package feta cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
• 1 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 cup chopped green onions
• 1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

Whisk vinegar, lemon juice, and honey in small bowl. Gradually whisk in oil. Season vinaigrette with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and chill.)

Bring broth to boil in large heavy saucepan. Stir in orzo, reduce heat to medium, cover partially, and boil until tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer to large wide bowl, tossing frequently until cool.

Mix tomatoes, feta, basil, and green onions into orzo. Add vinaigrette; toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.) Add pine nuts; toss. Serve at room temperature.

Read More http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Orzo-with-Tomatoes-Feta-and-Green-Onions-234414#ixzz1uoOUe7RN

I measure the liquid ingredients but just chop up a bunch of onions, tomatoes, and basil.  I also omit the pine nuts because they tend to be pricey.  Careful about how much salt you put in the dressing as the feta is salty.

No idea the nutritional content of course.  I'm sure ya'll would not be amused by how I eat, but damn this does taste good.  It's super simple and ALWAYS a hit.  People ask how I make it as if there is some big secret.

It's good stuff!

Molly

Kale-quinoa salad (the goods)

Came across this one through a silly yuppie food service thing that we subscribed to for a few weeks until it lost it's appeal.  It is an absolute gem.  Vegetarian and gluten free for those who care, or like to provide another option for the hippies and fad-dieters at the sunday get together.  Give it a shot sometime. 

Too start
1 bunch of kale, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 cups cooked quinoa
juice of one lemon (reserve for zesting if you actually use a lemon, and not just concentrate)
Some nuts or something for crunch (totally optional)
1or 2 cloves of garlic
1 tsp salt
1 tsp agave nectar or honey
2 tbsp olive oil
Some form of broth of bullion to cook quinoa in

Get some quinoa going.  I like to use vegetable stock if I have it, or better-than-bullion for cooking the grain.

It is cricial to de-bone the kale as it were, once done, chop the leaves up into littler (1 inch or so) chunks.   Go ahead and massage the kale with some coarse salt to help soften it.
 
Mix the dressing anytime by mixing the lemon juice, salt, raw garlic, sweetener, and olive oil. 
    When the quinoa is done, serve it over the kale with the dressing.  Top with nuts, lemon zest, and a dash of coarse salt.  Done. 

My non-nutritionalist background tells me that the veggies are raw and quinoa is a complete protein, so this one is pretty healthy and relativly well rounded. 
     
Now the fun part...as with any salad recipe, there is room for interpretation.  I personally like to throw some tofu.  I've been expermenting with different ways to cook it.  So far the best one is to pull the tofu out of the package and press it, by making a concoction of plates, cast iron pans, and cups filled with water.  Be mindful that this will fall over and either spill that water everywhere, or drop a cast iron skillet onto your toe, so be careful.  The idea here is to press the moisture out of the tofu, so as it will then suck up any marinade into which it might get thrown.  I use a standard oil, tamari, worchestersire, black pepper, vinager, whatever else it close by, marinade.  Let the tofu soak until it is time to cook it.  Heat up a skillet, and fry away (there goes the healthy factor, but not too much)  I would imagine baking would be an option here.  I'm also looking into the idea of grilling.  I think either would work as an alternative to frying. 
Also don't forget your beets.  I find beets make a great addition to anything, including salads.  I cut the tops off (can be used as a green in salad or sauted and used for an additional side to your meal), boil the beets, peel them in a cold water bath, and then throw them in the salad. 
Hope you all enjoy this one
Andy

On canned fish, and lunch, and dinner, and camping

I like the discussion about the health benefits and cost-effectivness of canned fish, however, has anyone looked into the moral complications?  Is it farmed? Fed a diet of corn and antibiotics?  Fresh caught?  Responsibly fished?  How can food be that cheap really? 
      That being said, I work part-time for minimum wage (plus free coffee) so I am always looking into cheap protein, preferable in a non-refrigerated form, and canned fish fits that bill.  I eat a lot of tuna melts/tuna salad sandwiches while camping.  It is quick, cheap, and creates virtually no mess. 
      I am not against mayo, however, I have found that good brown mustard makes a much better alternative.  Also I would recommend adding some jalapeno for a nice kick.  Lastly, top it with extra sharp white cheddar.  Go ahead and get creative for the toasting and melting processes.  It can be a challenge sometimes, but I've found that covering a saute pan will create enough heat to melt the cheese if you aren't too picky with your definition of melted.  One can of tuna per person (unless that person is Ben of course) should do you fine depending on strenuousness of the climbing/biking that day.  Half a jalapeno will give you plenty of zing depending on the season. 

Lunch ideas?

I only have 8 days left of school, two of which are half days, but I'm still looking for good packed lunch ideas.  I don't really like to wake up early enough to pack myself an actual lunch in the morning, though I could just set my alarm 5 minutes earlier and be fine.

What I usually do is just take leftovers from dinner the night before.  However, when you have weeks like this past week, that isn't possible.  Monday rehearsal 5-8, Tuesday rehearsal 3-6 followed by social engagement, Wednesday - Friday concerts until 9/9:30.  Needless to say, I didn't make dinner this week and thus had no leftovers for lunch.

So my question to you is, what are your quick, healthy, easy, packed lunch ideas?  I do have access to a fridge/microwave.

Molly

Quick and healthy "Apple Crisp"

You know I love dessert.  I'm also trying to eat less extra sugar and mores fruits and veggies.  So when I get the craving for dessert I try to come up with something that will feel like dessert but will mainly be fruit.  Here's my latest - it's based on apple crisp, but doesn't have nearly as much added fat and sugar.  I think I actually like it better than regular apple crisp, since it's not as overwhelmingly sweet and the apples aren't cooked to complete mush.

Dice an apple and put it in a microwavable bowl.  Sprinkle on about 1-2 tablespoons of craisins and 1-2 tablespoons of dry oatmeal.  Optional - sprinkle on a touch of brown sugar and/or some cinnamon.  Microwave for about 3 min until apples are just tender.  Stir everything together and eat as is or with a little cream or ice cream on top.

That's it - super simple, but a nice way to eat an apple, especially during this time of year when apples aren't really at their best.

Oatmeal craisan chocolate chip cookies

I thought Will and I could have fun making some cookies together the other day, so I started looking for a good recipe to make.  In the end, Will had no interest in making cookies with me - though he's enjoyed eating them a lot - but I FINALLY found a good cookie recipe.  Molly and I have lamented together our apparent inability to make a decent basic cookie, so I thought I would share this recipe with the idea that if I can make it so can you!  These cookies have held up in a tupperware remarkably well.  They were crispy on the outside and soft on the inside for the first day.  Since then they've lost the crispy on the outside, but are still a nice soft cookie texture - absolutely excellent with a spoonful of Breyer's butter pecan or chocolate ice cream on top.

Here's the link to the original recipe I found.
http://www.food.com/recipe/oatmeal-raisin-walnut-chocolate-chip-cookies-196504

And here's the ingredients list I used (note - I used less sugar, added salt, cut the walnuts, and replaced raisins with craisins and semi-sweet with bittersweet chocolate chips, increasing the amount of each to 1 1/2 cups):

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 t salt

1 cup butter 

3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1 large egg

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup old fashioned oats

1 1/2 cup bitter-sweet chocolate chips

1 1/2 cup craisins

The technique is basic: cream the butter and sugar, mix in the egg and vanilla.  Stir together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt then mix into the butter mixture.  Stir in the oatmeal, craisans, and chocolate chips.  I just dropped them onto the cookie tray and didn't bother pressing them out or anything, and they turned out great.  They don't spread a ton, so you can put them fairly close together on the tray.


Nutrition information:  Eh - all things in moderation!

All Those Canned Fish - Comparison Data

OK, I have to be honest, I have been kinda obsessive about canned fish lately.  I'm not sure why.  I just see the cans of fish in the grocery store and feel like there's a lot of good nutrition to be had for not much money.  I was pretty big on sardines in a previous post, but I think it is time to sort them all out using data rather than impressions.

There are 6 basic choices in canned fish (not counting crustaceans and mollusks) in our grocery stores:  red salmon, pink salmon, white tuna (with variations), light tuna, mackerel (with three variations: mackerel, chub mackerel, and jack mackerel), and sardines.  When I was growing up we used to eat something called bonito which came in a can like tuna and was cheaper but I don't see that in the stores anymore.  All of these are available packed in water; no point in adding extra soy oil.  I went to the store and bought examples of each so I could assess the nutrition labels at leisure, and recorded prices.  On a head to head comparison, here is what I find:

COST

Food                             $ per lb

Salmon, red                  $    7.92

Salmon, pink                 $    3.57

Tuna, Light                    $    3.48

Tuna, White                  $    4.12

Mackerel, jack               $    2.23

Mackerel, chub              $    2.13

Mackerel                       $    2.02

Sardines                       $    4.28

Let's look at cost first.  I used on-sale prices when they were commonly available - $1 a can for sardines, $3.29 a can for pink salmon.   Red salmon stands out as expensive, basically twice the price of the others.  Pink salmon, tuna, and sardines fall in a group around $3.50 to $4.50.  Sardines are the most expensive in this group so my buck-a-can-bargain argument is clearly busted.  Light tuna is the cheapest of the group followed closely by pink salmon when it's on sale.  The mackerels cluster together at about half the cost, $2 per pound, so they are the obvious bargains.

NUTRITION

All values per 1 oz (28 g):

Food                             Calories     Carbs       Fat                 Prot       % Carb     % Fat       % Prot

Salmon, red                  58             0.0            18.3             39.4          0%           32%          68%

Salmon, pink                 38             0.1            12.2             25.8          0%           32%          68%

Tuna, Light                    32             0.0            2.1               30.4          0%           6%           94%

Tuna, White                  36             0.1            7.5               28.3          0%           21%          79%

Mackerel, jack               36             0.0            20.5             15.0          0%           57%          42%

Mackerel, chub              44             0.0            15.9             27.7          0%           36%          64%

Mackerel                       40             0.0            15.0             25.0          0%           38%          62%

Sardines                       56             0.0            26.3             29.3          0%           47%          53%

There are no carbs involved here; this is all about fat and protein.  Interestingly, red salmon and sardines have significantly more cal per oz than the other fish. They also have less water content, so these two fish pack more grams of protein and fat and fewer grams of water into an oz of meat.  Tuna is surprisingly lower in fat and correspondingly lower in calories than the others, especially light tuna which might be considered the "skimmed milk" option of canned fish.

By the way, all proteins are complete relative to essential amino acids.

Let's look at the fat in more detail, especially with regard to omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids:

                           Fat mg      W3,mg      W6, mg     W3/W6     W3/Tot Fat

Salmon, red          2000           515           34             15.3          0.26

Salmon, pink        1400           339            27             12.7          0.24

Tuna, Light             236             79             3             31.2          0.33

Tuna, White           830            266           15             17.3          0.32

Mackerel, jack     2500             545           39             13.9          0.22

Mackerel, chub    1768             386           28             13.9          0.22

Mackerel             1500             327           24             13.9          0.22

Sardines              2895            398            29             13.8          0.14

Jack mackerel is higher in fat (and low in protein) compared to the others, a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, especially if you are getting protein from another source.  By the way, I did not have complete data for all three types of mackerel and so assumed the W3/W6/Total fat ratios were the same for all three, using values from the one for which I had data.  Fat and protein weights for the three mackerels are from the can labels.  

Light tuna has the highest ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 and the highest percentage of omega-3 relative to total fat but is so lean it probably is not a useful source of omega-3's.  

Alright, alright; sardines have the highest level of fat, the lowest protein to fat ratio and the lowest omega-3 to total fat ratio.  I retract everything I said previously about sardines being a nutritional bargain.  They are expensive, provide the worst "fat bargain" viz-a-viz omega-3's and protein, and nobody except me seems to like them.  I'm off it.

DISCUSSION

I have not gotten around to trying the red salmon yet so I don't have any idea why it should command such a high price.  If I try it and find out it is twice as good as the others, I will let you know.

Looks to me like pink salmon and mackerel are both good ways to boost omega-3's in a high protein food.  If you are just looking for balanced, complete protein with low fat, light tuna is clearly the choice.  Flavor-wise, I like salmon best, then tuna, both of which have distinctive flavors.  The mackerel is good in a nondescript, generic fish sort of way, and as noted before, cheap compared to the others.

Three recipes posted so far can be used for any of these:  "Salmon" Eggs and Grits, "Salmon" and Rice Cakes, and "Tuna" Salad with Raita.  I will keep myself open to other ideas and let you know if any of them turn out worthwhile.  Also, I would be interested in ideas for seasoning flavors to use with fish if you have nay to post in the comments.

Remember to make lemon-dill raita and keep it on hand to serve with any of these whenever you have them.

Lindsey

Tuna Salad Alternatives

Another canned fish experiment (substituting mackerel for salmon in Salmon Eggs and Grits) lead me to be looking a half can of drained and cleaned jack mackerel around lunch time wondering what else one could do with it...Hmmm... "Tuna" Salad

And then  the thought of mayonnaise raised its ugly head:  basically whipped soybean oil, 10 g of fat per tbl., 90 calories, all from fat low in omega-3's.  2 tbl of that in my ~200 g of fish will leave me at 450 calories in a 3/73/24 proportion with the fats being 13% omega-3, 26% omega-6 for a w-3/w-6 ratio of 0.5.  Not so good even with the carbs boosted by serving on rye toast.

Suppose I use my new old standby, lemon-dill raita, in place of mayo?  Now I get 278 calories in a 7/53/41 ratio for the fish salad with 3900 mg omega-3 and 295 mg of omega-6 for a ratio of 13.2/1.  Much better.  Put that on two slices of rye toast and you get a lunch of 490 calories in a proportion of 37/35/28 with 3950 mg omega-3 and 900 mg omega-6 for a ratio of 4.4/1.  That's a healthy lunch and there's room for half an apple to top it off.

DISCUSSION
 Two learnings:
1.  You can substitute different canned fish for the tuna in "tuna" salad to great effect.  Flavors of each are different; tuna and salmon tend to have stronger distinct flavors, mackerel tends to be milder with just general whitefish flavor.  I thought it was good.
2.  Raita makes a GREAT substitute for mayo in "tuna" salad.  It tastes great and really improves the nutritional balance by not adding a load of soy derived fat high in omega-6.  If you want the extra fat, there are always other ways to eat it that are much more fun (think ice cream...).

Lindsey
  

Salmon Cakes

The great canned fish price and nutrition comparison post is still in draft.  In the meantime, I did not want to loose site of a couple of successful cooking experiments involving canned fish.

I tried to make salmon cakes a while back using the standard egg, bread crumbs, chopped celery, chopped onion type recipe and was very disappointed in the result - tough and dry.  Yesterday I had the idea to try using cooked rice for the filler instead.  Great improvement!  My proportions were

Rice, white, cooked             450 g - This sounds like a lot to me, but it's what I recorded

Salmon, pink, ~1/2 can        198 g - Drained and cleaned

Onion, 1 med                        41 g - chopped fine

Garlic, 1 med clove                  3 g - minced

Celery, 1 stalk                       39 g - chopped fine

Eggs, 1 large                         50 g - beaten

Recipe, total                        782 g

Oh, yeah, salt and pepper, of course.

I blended the ingredients adding the egg last (may not be necessary but it's what I did) to get a mixture which could be easily shaped into cakes.  This should be enough for 6 medium size salmon cakes.  I put them on a baking pan which had been sprayed with PAM, sprayed the cakes with a little PAM and baked them at 400 until they started to brown, maybe 25-30 minutes.

DISCUSSION

That rice number looks high to me but it is the weight I wrote down.  If you try this, put in as much rice as looks right and gives you a form-able cake and see if my number is right.

I was making rice for a quiche crust - didn't have any left overs - so I used it freshly made and still warm  Presumably you could use left overs.

Since I was investigating texture, I did not really put much thought or effort into seasoning.  These would be good with a fresh herb mixed in, maybe savory or dill, plus, you know, a little ground mustard, a very small dash of red pepper for excitement, etc.

I was very pleased with the result.  These turned out light, not tough, and delicious.

I ate mine with lemon-dill raita, of course.  I have been using the lemon-dill raita ever since I made it.  It keeps very well and the flavor blend improves with age.  This is one to keep on hand at all times, a real winner.

NUTRITION

This recipe should make 6 medium salmon cakes of 130 g each (calculated including all water content so they may weigh less after baking) containing 159 cal each in a 58/15/27 proportion (carb/fat/protein calories as percentages, respectively).  Essential amino acids are complete; leucine is lowest at 140%.  Each cake contains 3.6 g of fat with 0.62 g of omega-3 and 0.22 g of omega-6 for a w-3/w-6 ratio of 2.8.

Lindsey