If, like me, you’ve been grilling salmon fillets all summer long and are ready to shake things up taste-wise, these burgers are calling your name. Made with chopped fresh salmon and seasoned with lemon, dill and mustard, they have a modern comfort-food appeal and a distinctly Greek flavor accent, which is punctuated by the accompanying herb-flecked cucumber-yogurt sauce (tzatziki).
They are a breeze to make, because the food processor does most of the work. Just put chunks of fresh salmon in the processor bowl and pulse until chopped, then combine in a mixing bowl with fresh breadcrumbs, seasonings and some egg white to bind it all together. Form the mixture into patties, then refrigerate for 10 minutes to set. (You could leave them there to chill, covered tightly, for up to one day to make ahead.) When you are ready to eat, grill until the outside is nicely browned and the inside is cooked through but still tender and moist.
The tzatziki sauce makes for a refreshing, creamy counterpoint to the richness of the salmon and is a healthy alternative to mayonnaise-based tartar sauce. To make it, you grate some cucumber (which you can also do in the food processor), then put the grated cucumber in a strainer and press the water out of it. (I used to discard the cucumber water until I discovered how delicious it is added to plain water with some lemon juice, making for a flavorful way to hydrate.) The shredded cucumber gets mixed with Greek yogurt, olive oil, lemon, parsley, garlic salt and pepper for a luxuriously thick but light sauce. Serve the sauce dolloped on the salmon patties on burger buns, in a pita pocket, over a green salad or in lettuce wraps — all deliciously different ways to get out of a same-old-grilled-salmon rut.
Salmon Burgers With Tzatziki Sauce
4 servings