(Light) Salmon Burgers w/Chipotle Lime Mayo [Saturday Swap]

It’s time to Swap…

Friday is here!  I heart Fridays.  When I get my kiddos home from school, there’s no homework or chores.  It’s just time to play and have fun.  I always plan dinner at home and always try to make it something fun like a Mexican Fiesta or an Italian Inspired Pizza night.  It’s the one night that we grab our plates and head to the tv to catch up on dvr’d episodes of our favorite shows like American Idol.  So, most of my Fridays involve a trip to Costco for a weekend stock~up.  A fresh bouquet of flowers, shrimp cocktail, fruit, snacks….  all sorts of things to have on hand.  A lot of times I’ll also pick up salmon for Tim to grill sometime over the weekend.  

This past week I had an unused package of fresh salmon that I needed to use.  I planned to broil it for a quick weeknight meal….  until I came across this great recipe for Salmon Burgers.  The title took me back to my childhood when one of my favorite dinners was my mom’s Salmon Patties.  She used canned salmon, painstakingly pulling each and every little bone from the mess.  She made patties, rolled them in egg and flour and fried them to perfection.

This is an updated version of those salmon patties, using fresh salmon and just a few ingredients.  Served with chipotle mayo on an english muffin….  and I had my family hooked!

Chipotle Salmon Burgers
Adapted from Cooking Light

For the Mayonnaise:
1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
3 TBSP light mayonnaise
2 TBSP finely chopped fresh mango {see note below}
1 TBSP finely chopped fresh pineapple {see note below}
1/8 tsp finely chopped lime rind (or zest)

For the Burgers:
1/3 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBSP finely chopped chipotle chile, canned in adobo sauce
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1/4 tsp salt
1 (1 1/4 pound) salmon filet, skinned and cut into 1″ pieces {see note below}

Cooking Spray

4 English Muffins
4 Butter lettuce leaves

For the Mayo:  Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender {my mini-chop food processor worked perfectly for this} and process until smooth.  Pour into serving dish, cover and chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

For the Burgers:  Add all ingredients into food processor and pulse/blend until ground and mixed well. {I was worried the green onions may be too strong for my family, so I left them out and added them only to my burger.  If you have onion~haters in your gang, you may leave them out as well.}

Divide the salmon mixture into four equal portions and form into patties.  Place on a plate, cover and chill for 30 minutes.

When ready to cook, spray a grill pan with cooking spray and heat over medium-high heat.  Add the patties and cook about 6 minutes per side or until they reach your desired doneness.  Remove from pan and cover with foil to keep warm.

Re~spray pan and heat English muffins until toasted.

Serve Salmon Burgers on English muffins with lettuce and about 1 TBSP mayo.

For Mango:  I bought a bag of frozen mango from Trader Joe’s….  it makes a great zero WW point snack since you can eat the frozen chunks like a sorbet.  Because it’s already cut, you can use a couple of the chunks in this recipe.

For the Pineapple:  I send Dole pineapple fruit cups in 100% juice with my kiddos to school and had some on hand.  If you have those, use some of the fruit to add to this recipe.

As most things at Costco are sold in bulk, their salmon comes in 2 pound or larger packages.  I cut mine in half and froze to make another time.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus Values ~
Mayo (1 TBSP) = 2
Burger = 7
English Muffin = 3