On Thursday evening, we enjoyed a dinner of Norwegian fish cakes, long bean salad and roasted potatoes. I've had a fascination with new Scandinavian cooking ever since visiting the American Swedish Institute in Minneapolis last Thanksgiving, and the primary outcome has been an exploration of the "Nordic diet". Emphasizing the traditional foodstuffs of Scandinavia -- rye, oats, cold-water fish, root vegetables and leafy greens -- the diet is touted as equivalent to the Mediterranean Diet in health, and it provides those of us in northern climates a guideline for eating well with foods more likely to be produced locally.
I've been using Trina Hahnemann's cookbook, "The Nordic Diet," with excellent results so far. I have yet to try her recipe for rye and beer oatmeal, but I'll get to it!
For Thursday's dinner, I served a version of her fishcakes recipe. She recommends salmon for this traditional Norwegian comfort food, although most other recipes I've seen use cod. I've made it both ways and I think the salmon version is tastier. She also incorporates grated vegetables into the batter, which add flavor and nutrients while reducing the calorie count.
I used a recipe from Crescent Dragonwagon's Bean By Bean cookbook for the long beans, and the roasted potatoes were basically this method described on the Chocolate and Zucchini blog, with a little olive oil and butter instead of the duck fat.
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| potatoes, pole beans and fish cakes |
Fish Cakes
(adapted from The Nordic Diet)
1 lb or so of skinless, boneless fish
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp rolled oats
2 tbsp flour
1 egg
1 small carrot
1 small zucchini or summer squash
1 tbsp fresh thyme (or herb of choice)
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
In a food processor, pulse the carrot and squash until minced, then add the fish and pulse until it's all meal-like but not a paste. Add the oats, flour, egg, salt and thyme and pulse until it's a coarse batter, not completely smooth. You can use a box grater for the vegetables, mince up the fish on a cutting board and mix it all in a bowl if you don't have a food processor.
Refrigerate for at least an hour. When ready to cook, heat the oil in a skillet on medium-high. Spoon out a scoop of batter, shape it into a patty, and cook it in the pan, repeating with the remaining batter until your pan is full. Cook for about 5 minutes on each side.
If you'd like, make a quick topping of yogurt with some herbs to serve with the cakes.
4 servings of approximately 300 calories each.
Long bean salad
(adapted from Bean by Bean)
1.5 lbs mixed green beans and yellow wax beans
2 tbsp prepared mustard
1 tbsp honey
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tbsp minced fresh parsley
dash of ground cloves
salt and pepper to taste
Wash the beans and trim the ends, if you like them that way. You can also cut the beans in smaller pieces if you prefer. Bring a large pot of water to boil and blanch the beans by dropping them into the water for 2-3 minutes, or until they're almost but not quite done. Your cooking time will vary depending on the type of bean and it's freshness. Keep pulling one out to test.
Drain the beans and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking.
Mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl, then add the beans and toss. Serve warm, at room temperature, or chill and serve later. It will be good any way!
6 servings of approximately 37 calories each.
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