Salmon Quinoa Patties with Lemon Tahini Sauce

I made these salmon patties for dinner on Friday night and they were really good!  You can easily make them after a long day at work, without having to spend much time in the kitchen.  One thing about the salmon.  It's canned.  I know that some folks hate canned salmon.  You are welcome to substitute nice smoked salmon but I live in Luanda, Angola and smoked salmon is 1. hard to find or 2. so expensive that it would probably be cheaper to fly out of the country to buy it.  So, I used canned salmon (that I order through Amazon).

Patties
1 1/2c cooked quinoa
12-15 oz canned salmon
1 1/2 tablespoon cilantro
 zest of one lemon
1/2t lemon pepper
Salt
2 eggs
oil for sauteeing

Sauce
Lemon-Tahini Sauce
1 1/2 Tablespoon tahini
2 large garlic cloves, pressed
½ teaspoon kosher salt
Juice of one lemon
⅓ cup extra virgin olive
1/2 teaspoon cumin

First, I prepared the sauce and then stuck in the fridge to chill while the patties came together.  Mix the tahini, garlic, salt, cumin, and juice together then whisk in the oil. Chill.

Gently combine all the ingredients (except the oil) for the patties together.  Depending on your salmon, you may need to add a little more quinoa to it to make the patties stay together.  Heat a skillet over med then carefully  add the patties (I had six patties but it depends how big/small you make them) and brown (about 5 minutes) then flip and repeat.

Top with sauce and enjoy!











OR (AND)

Serve for breakfast/brunch

I had leftovers the next morning for breakfast!  I topped a reheated (in the oven) salmon patty with an over-easy egg, sauce, tomato slice and avocado slice for an amazing twist on eggs benedict.

Namibia

We went to Namibia during Easter break and had an amazing time!  We visited four cities and made a  couple other fun stops along the way.  The cities were gorgeous, the food was amazing, the people were friendly, and the activities were a blast! I'd love to go back again and again and again.

In order to have some kind of organization and not overwhelm one blog with tons of pictures, I've done separate posts for each city.

Also, anyone that is planning a trip to Namibia and wants more information or has questions, please don't hesitate to ask!

Enjoy!

Windhoek
Sossusvlei
Swakopmund
Etosha

But I can't post something without pictures so here are a few of my favorites

Etosha, Namibia

Happily, the entire drive from Swakopmund to Etosha was paved roads!

Etosha was fantastic!  We did a guided game drive in the morning and then relaxed by the pool during the heat of day.  Once it cooled down, we went back to see a few more animals before heading home for dinner under the stars.

Ready for our safari!!

Cheetah!

a little closer to the cheetah

Pretty springbok.  There are springbok than any other animal at Etosha

White Rhino

Springbok and ostriches

We were so happy to get close to this big beauty

Black backed jackals

Wildebeest

Ostriches

Here are several pictures of a group of lions (at least 8 but probably more) that we happened upon at the end of the day.  We sat there (in our car with the windows partially down) and watched them wake up from their afternoon nap.  It was an amazing experience that I'm sure I'll never forget.

They start to wake up 

Lioness and baby watching the lion sleep

He awakes!

 After a lovely trip around Namibia, it was time to leave and head home.  These cute little baboons came out to say goodbye to us on the way back to Windhoek.

Swakopmund, Namibia

Our drive from Sossusvlei was long and slow (a majority of the trip was on gravel roads). We saw a lot of wildlife along the way (mostly  springbok, oryx, and wildebeest) 

Wildebeest

We stopped at Soltaire for gas, coffee, and snacks.  I think it's the only gas station between Sossusvlei and Walvis Bay (which is next to Swakopmund).  It was such a cool little place that we had to take a few pictures.

the general store

Population sign with the crossed out numbers

Back on the road, we passed through some pretty amazing sights as well as seeing more wildlife

Next stop Swakopmund!  This is a beach resort town with lots of little coffee shops, art galleries, antique stores, and restaurants.  We had a great time here too.  We went sand boarding, visited the aquarium, ate lots of delicious seafood, had a family run, and hung out on the rooftop of hotel and read books.

Aquarium

Rooftop reading

View of the beach from our hotel

View of the town from our hotel

Writing a card to her penpal 

Riding up the sand dune

Getting ready for the ride down

So fun!

Next up - Etosha