Scrumptious Salmon Meatballs

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We eat a lot of salmon.

A lot of salmon.

This means that each week, I usually find myself spending far too much time opening up all the fridge, freezer, and pantry doors, scratching my head and straining my brain trying to come up with something new to do with it.

Because even though we've made getting all those Omega-3s into our systems each week a priority, it gets old eating the same thing week after week, and there are really only so many things you can do with salmon...

I was excited when major hauls of strawberries and blueberries led me to come up with this dish as well as this one, but if it's no longer berry season and we've run out of our stash in the freezer, I don't have those amazing recipes to cycle through.

That's why I was so excited to come up with these yummy meatballs.

Not only can I make them all year long, but I can even use canned salmon to do it (the safest, cheapest cans of the stuff seem to alternate between WalMart and Aldi), which makes my frugal (and lazy) self oh so happy.

And the avocado sauce is to die for - we pretty much have access to avocados year-round in these parts, but if you aren't similarly blessed with those fatty green orbs all year, I've included a recipe for an alternative dipping sauce.

A batch of these bite-sized balls won't last longer than dinnertime around here (if they make it that long - the last time I made them, Gv and I ate all but 6 of the 40 by the time G walked in the door from work!), but the one time I was on the ball and made up a double batch, they froze wonderfully in a zippered baggie and were another fantastic treat to pop into the toaster oven and heat up for a quick snack, just like these.

Whip up a batch today - and see if they become your new binge food like they have for us!

What You Need (Meatballs)

About a pound of salmon (4-5 frozen portions, or 1 can)

1 onion

1 cup of breadcrumbs (more or less, usually I just grind up whatever hunk of bread we have left at the moment)

1 egg

6 garlic cloves (although you might just want 2-3, if you're not garlic fiends like we are)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon oregano

Other things to consider adding in, for a change of pace: pumpkin or butternut, curry, cumin

What You Need (Avocado Sauce)

1 avocado

1/2 cup yogurt (you can make your own!)

2 garlic cloves

juice from 1/2 a lime

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

What You Need (Alternative Sauce)

3 shallots (or just green onions)

1 Tablespoon dill (2 Tablespoons if you use fresh dill)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1 1/4 cups yogurt (or sour cream)

pinch of pepper

What You Do

1.  Stick the salmon, onion and garlic in a food processor and grind it all up.

2.  Transfer to a big bowl and mix in the rest of the meatball ingredients.

3.  Roll salmon into 2-ish-inch balls and lay on a baking mat.

4.  Bake 20-30 minutes at 350 degrees, until they're nice and crispy. (I had to bake mine a bit longer, but you'll want to start checking them at about the 20-minute mark, to make sure they don't burn.)

5.  To make the sauce (either one), dump all the ingredients into something like a Ninja (or maybe you're not as lazy as me and already washed out your food processor!) and zub it all up until it's smooth and creamy. ("Zub" is the technical term for what you do when you Ninja, btw.  And yes, both "zub" and "Ninja" are totally verbs!)

6.  Eat these little balls of goodness as finger food (it's more fun that way!), using your chosen sauce as a dipping pool for them to cannonball into.

Do you find yourself similarly stumped with new ways to fix a staple like salmon?  I'd love to hear!  Either leave a comment below or email me at lisahealy (at) outlook (dot) com.

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