Life has been trundling on. This Easter we missed kid#1 who’s traveling around Europe, but the rest of us actually had a really good time in Singapore this Holy Weekend. It was a time of taking a deep breath and pausing. Plus a couple of lovely meetups with friends and some relatives from overseas. Meals seem to be the focal point or excuse for long meandering conversations and moments to let someone else’s life overlap with one’s own.
Singapore has turned rather hot and there’s a sluggish feeling in the humid heat. Surprisingly our walks have been interspersed with meetings with otters, egrets, herons and swans. And I recently discovered that the Botanic Gardens have now introduced new denizens…like shadowy black bullhead catfish and pig-nosed turtles into the ponds. Like an urban episode of River Monsters.
Anyway it was good to end the weekend with a quiet family dinner. I had planned lamb chops as this is Hub’s favorite, but then I remembered that I still had to feed my swallowing impaired dad. It’s been about a year since he was hospitalized for aspiration pneumonia and I’m thankful that he’s stayed well and out of hospital for the past year and has even improved a little with his swallowing. Of course, mum who is his main caregiver is the hidden hero here and is ever vigilant with what and how he eats and has kept him relatively safe and well over the past few months.
Dad has never been a foodie and is amazingly easy to feed, but we did realise he was getting tired of rice porridge day in and day out. When he first was diagnosed with swallowing difficulties, I did a lot of research about safe and tasty meals for older folk with this problem. There’s lots of ideas out there and even an organization that will make purées out of local dishes like chicken rice or curry and shape them into shapes that look like pieces of food or a regular meal, but somehow it seemed and looked rather sad to me. So I’m very thankful that dad’s swallowing has improved so making a soft salmon cake worked well for him. For the rest of the meal, I had a vichysoisse soup as well as some mushroom pasta that mum blended together to be a thick puree, and he got to eat the salmon cake together with the softer mash.
Looking after aging parents is definitely a new phase of my life. Diapers, wheelchairs, hospital beds and oxygen concentrators have become part of the landscape at home. But a simple meal, bang full of flavor, is an act of love that hopes to bring pleasure even in dad’s humdrum home-bound existence.
So dad did like the salmon cakes – as did the rest of the family. And boy, the dip was even better! This recipe was just right for a relaxed Sunday dinner. I love that it was easy to make and completely fuss-free since I’m conserving energy for a crazy week ahead!
Low Carb Salmon Cakes
Ingredients
- 500g salmon fillet, washed and patted dry
- 1/2 green pepper, diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 beaten eggs
- 3 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- olive oil spray
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp sriracha sauce (actually I used a packet of sweet chili sauce I had lying around!)
- 2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise
- 1/3 cup greek yogurt
- 1 pickle, diced
Ingredients for salmon cake
Ingredients for dipping sauce
Directions
- Preheat the airfryer to 210 degrees C.
- Place the salmon skin side down in the airfryer basket, then spray the surface with olive oil spray. Grind some salt and pepper over the surface. Airfry for 15 minutes.
- In a skillet, heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, then fry the diced onions and green pepper until lightly caramelized. Set aside.
- Flake the cooked salmon and place into a mixing bowl. Discard the skin and any bones.
- Add the almond flour, eggs, mayonnaise, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder.
- Mix well, then use an ice-cream scoop to help portion out the mix. Shape each scoop into a patty and place onto a lined tray. You should get about 8 patties.
- Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
- In the meantime, make the dipping sauce by mixing the sriracha, mayonnaise, yogurt and pickle together and refrigerate.
- Preheat the airfryer to 200 deg C. Place a liner into the airfryer and carefully place 4 patties onto the liner. Spray the top of the patties with the olive oil spray. Airfry for 6 minutes, then gently turn over, then airfry again for 4-5 minutes. Repeat with the remaining patties.
- Serve hot with the dipping sauce.
Still Feeling Peckish 